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[hard-boiled]{adj.} Unrefined; tough; merciless. •/"Because you were two minutes late," my hard-boiled boss cried, "I will deduct fifteen minutes worth from your salary!"/

[hard cash] See: COLD CASH.

[hard feeling]{n.} Angry or bitter feeling; enmity. — Usually used in the plural. •/Jim asked Andy to shake hands with him, just to show that there were no hard feelings./ •/Bob and George once quarreled over a girl, and there are still hard feelings between them./

[hard-fisted]{adj.} 1. Able to do hard physical labor; strong. •/Jack’s uncle was a hard-fisted truck driver with muscles of steel./ 2. Not gentle or easy-going; tough; stern. •/The new teacher was a hard-fisted woman who would allow no nonsense./ 3. Stingy or mean; not generous with money. •/The hard-fisted banker refused to lend Mr. Jones more money for his business./

[hard going]{adj. phr.} Fraught with difficulty. •/Dave finds his studies of math hard going./

[hardheaded]{adj.} Stubborn; shrewd; practical. •/Don is a hardheaded businessman who made lots of money, even during the recession./

[hardhearted]{adj.} Unsympathetic; merciless. •/Jack is so hardhearted that even his own children expect nothing from him./

[hard-hitting]{adj.} Working hard to get things done; strong and active; stubbornly eager. •/The boys put on a hard-hitting drive to raise money for uniforms for the football team./ •/He is a hard-hitting and successful football coach./

[hard line]{n. phr.} Tough political policy. •/Although modern economists were trying to persuade him to open up to the West, Castro has always taken the hard line approach./

[hard-liner]{n.} A politician who takes the hard line. See: HARD LINE.

[hard luck] See: TOUGH LUCK.

[hardly any] or [scarcely any] Almost no or almost none; very few. •/Hardly any of the students did well on the test, so the teacher explained the lesson again./ •/Charles and his friends each had three cookies, and when they went out, hardly any cookies were left./

[hardly ever] or [scarcely ever]{adv. phr.} Very rarely; almost never; seldom. •/It hardly ever snows in Florida./ •/Johnny hardly ever reads a book./

[hard-nosed]{adj.}, {slang} Tough or rugged; very strict; not weak or soft; stubborn, especially in a fight or contest. •/Joe’s father was a hard-nosed army officer who had seen service in two wars./ •/Pete is a good boy; he plays hard-nosed football./ Compare: HARD-BOILED.

[hard nut to crack] also [tough nut to crack]{n. phr.}, {informal} Something difficult to understand or to do. •/Tom’s algebra lesson was a hard nut to crack./ •/Mary found knitting a hard nut to crack./ Compare: HARD ROW TO HOE.

[hard of hearing]{adj.} Partially deaf. •/Some people who are hard of hearing wear hearing aids./

[hard-on]{n.}, {vulgar}, {avoidable}. An erection of the male sexual organ.

[hard put] or [hard put to it]{adj.} In a difficult position; faced with difficulty; barely able. •/John was hard put to find a good excuse for his lateness in coming to school./ •/The scouts found themselves hard put to it to find the way home./

[hard row to hoe] or [tough row to hoe]{n. phr.} A hard life to live; a very hard job to do. •/She has a hard row to hoe with six children and her husband dead./ •/Young people without enough education will have a tough row to hoe when they have to support themselves./ Syn.: HARD SLEDDING. Compare: DOWN ON ONE’S LUCK, HARD NUT TO CRACK.

[hard sell]{n.}, {informal} A kind of salesmanship characterized by great vigor, aggressive persuasion, and great eagerness on the part of the person selling something; opposed to "soft sell". •/Your hard sell turns off a lot of people; try the soft sell for a change, won’t you?/

[hard sledding] or [rough sledding] or [tough sledding]{n.}, {informal} Difficulty in succeeding or making progress. •/Jane had hard sledding in her math course because she was poorly prepared./ •/When Mr. Smith started his new business, he had tough sledding for a while but things got better./

[hard-top]{n.} 1. A car that has a metal roof; a car that is not a convertible. •/Every spring Mr. Jones sells his hard-top and buys a convertible./ 2. or [hardtop convertible] A car with windows that can be completely lowered with no partitions left standing, and with a top that may or may not be lowered. •/Mr. Brown’s new car is a hardtop convertible./

[hard up]{adj.}, {informal} Without enough money or some other needed thing. •/Dick was hard up and asked Lou to lend him a dollar./ •/The campers were hard up for water because their well had run dry./ Compare: UP AGAINST IT.

[hard way]{n.} The harder or more punishing of two or more ways to solve a problem, do something, or learn something. — Used with "the". •/The mayor refused the help of the crooks and won the election the hard way by going out to meet the people./ •/The challenger found out the hard way that the champion’s left hand had to be avoided./

[hare] See: MAD AS A HATTER or MAD AS A MARCH HARE, RUN WITH THE HARE AND HUNT (RIDE) WITH THE HOUNDS.

[harebrained]{adj.} Thoughtless; foolish. •/Most of the harebrained things Ed does may be attributable to his youth and lack of experience./

[hark back]{v.}, {literary} 1. To recall or turn back to an earlier time or happening. •/Judy is always harking back to the good times she had at camp./ 2. To go back to something as a beginning or origin. •/The cars of today hark back to the first automobiles made about 1900./ •/The slit in the back of a man’s coal harks back to the days when men rode horseback./