930
(figurative) Small businesses have
been hit hard/hard hit by the recession. 0
►
CAREFULLY if-Hi 3 very carefully and thoroughly
: to think hard iA3US # 0 We thought long and hard before
deciding to move house. Cl ^r: At ft: A fH S
►
A LOT Ai 4 heavily; a lot or for a
long time
AHM;
ftN‘|s]i&: It was raining hard when we set
off.
►
LEFT/RIGHT 5 at a sharp angle to the
left/right [n]
7r / =£: Turn hard right at the next
junction. ft
IT7T77I be/feel hard 'done by (informal) to be or feel unfairly treated 3\ 7 £ -ft iS; Hi 3\ JS :
She has
every right to feel hard done by—her parents
have given her nothing.
M0 be .hard pressed/'pushed to do sth | be hard put (to it) to do sth to find it very difficult
to do sth IS |i& M: ♦ : He was hard put to it to
explain her disappearance. M j® ft M &
ft {±1H W 0 be hard
up for sth to have too few or too little of sth ^$J[g &: We’re hard up for ideas. C If H 7 ft ft E 7 o — see also hard up 'hard on sth very soon after MU If: His death followed hard on
hers. M-&
^EJ0 take sth 'hard to be very upset by sth
) : He took his wife’s death very hard, life — more at die v., heel n.
WHICH
WORD?
hard♦hardly
m The adverb from the adjective hard is hard. hard fifSiJiftft hard: / have to work hard today. 41- Af^fl^AXflo o She has thought very hard about
her future plans. tHcU 0 o It
was raining hard outside. ftjfjlTF #111AQ m. Hardly is an adverb meaning
‘almost not’. * hardly A®M, /IX&A:
/ hardly ever
go to
concerts. ftn/rilf^^0 o / can hardly wait for my birthday. 0 0 It cannot be
used instead of hard, i^iSIfttgft;# hard: -Eve-been working hardly
today, o She has thought very hardly about her future plans, o # was raining hardly
o note at hardly
hard-back /'haidbaek;
NAmE 'haird-/ (also hard-cover especially in NAmE) noun [C, U] a book that has a
stiff cover |f : What’s the price of the hardback?
^ ? 0 It was published in
hardback last year. j&ft;
3£ftftJijA 0 hardback books/editions If ^fti / ft — compare paperback
hard-ball
/'haidboil;
NAmE 'haird-/ noun (NAmE) 1 the game of baseball (when contrasted with softball) # ) 2 used to refer to a way of behaving,
especially in politics, that shows that a person is determined to get what they
want ( Alt$T?p 7ft ) : I want us to play hardball on this
issue.
&#S^Cl£'fc^jBi±’*¥ffco o hardball politics
hard-bit-ten /.haid'bitn; NAmE .haird-/ adj. not easily shocked and not showing
emotion, because you have experienced many unpleasant things
hard-board
/'haidboid;
NAmE 'hairdboird/ noun [U] a type of stiff board
made by crushing very small pieces of wood together into thin sheets ( ft 5$ X
.hard-'boiled
adj. 1 (of an egg boiled until the inside is hard MW&) — compare soft-boiled
2
(of people A) not showing much emotion ftsftiAf#
, hard ' by prep. (old-fashioned) very near sth figAr;
llfijfi ► .hard by adv.
.hard
'candy noun [u] (NAmE) = boiled sweet
.hard 'cash (BrE) (NAmE cold 'cash) noun [U] money, especially in
the form of coins and notes, that you can
spend (jt^mwmm)
'hard cider noun (NAmE) = cider(I)
.hard-'code verb [VN] (computing if) to write data so that it cannot easily
be changed
m )
.hard 'copy noun [U, C] (computing if) information from a computer that has
been printed on paper if If FI, ff Epfft (
lT0]ftWit^ljl^l4 ) —picture c> page R5 .hard 'core noun (BrE) 1 [sing.+sing./pl. v.] the small central group in
an organization, or in a particular group of people, who are the most active or
who will not change their beliefs or behaviour #
ft;
ft IS A M: It’s really only the hard core that
bother(s) to go to meetings. ifcKWiP##AJF^o
oA hard
core of drivers ignores the law.
HE&Jf 2 [U] (usually 'hardcore) small pieces of
stone, brick, etc. used as a base for building
roads on
.hard-'core adj. [only before
noun] 1 having
a belief or a way of behaving that will not change ft M1$; hard-core party members H % M 2 showing or describing sexual activity in
a detailed or violent way ( They sell hard-core
pornography. MCIft felt-tl ab „ — compare
SOFT-CORE
.hard court noun an area with a hard surface
for playing tennis on, not grass
5f hard-cover
/'haidkAva(r);
NAmE 'haird-/ noun (especially NAmE) = HARDBACK
.hard 'currency noun [U, C] money that is easy
to exchange for money from another country, because it is not likely to lose
its value ifWJ§
m)
.hard 'disk noun a disk inside a computer
that stores data and programs WM.lk — picture o page R5
►
compare floppy
disk
'hard-drinking adj. drinking a lot of alcohol AMtAM ft;
'hard drive noun (computing if) a part of a computer that reads data on a hard disk .hard 'drug noun [usually pi.] a powerful illegal drug,
such as heroin, that some people
take for pleasure and can become addicted
to 5f '|ft#nan ( )
►
compare soft
drug
.hard-'earned adj. that you get only after a
lot of work and effort hard-earned cash
0 We finally managed a hard-earned draw. IfcmXiiJfc
.hard-edged adj. powerful, true to life and
not affected by emotion the movie’s hard-edged
realism
harden /'haidn; NAmE 'hairdn/ verb 1 to become or make sth become firm, stiff
or solid ( ^ Wit :
[V] The varnish takes a few hours to harden. '/If ^ to
H /l '/MVW tifio 0 [VN] a method for hardening and preserving wood 2 if your voice,
face, etc. hardens, or you harden it, it
becomes more serious or severe ( 0Hf)
If|, MD5A [V]
Her face hardened into an expression of hatred.
T5|t, 0 [VN] He hardened his
voice when he
saw she wasn’t listening.
3
if sb’s feelings or attitudes harden or sb/sth hardens
them, they become more fixed and determined ( {■£ ) MM/S, [V] Public attitudes to the
strike have hardened.
ilS^o 0 Their suspicions hardened into certainty. MCI 0 [VN] The incident hardened her
resolve to leave the company.
4
[VN] [usually passive] to make sb less kind or less
affected by extreme situations
Joe sounded different, hardened by the war. # itA^f«7, To o They were
hardened criminals (= they showed no regret
for their crimes). M Cl Ji X & $ If 2E o 0 In this job you have to harden your heart
to pain and suffering. ffc&M
o ► hard-en-ing