harden Hear it!

harden Definition

harden (härd′'n)

transitive verb

  1. to make solid, rigid, or firm
  2. to make callous to harden one's heart
  3. to accustom to varying or adverse conditions or climate

Etymology: ME hardnen < ON harthna & < ME hard, hard

intransitive verb

to become solid, rigid, callous, etc.

harden Synonyms

harden

v.

  1. To make less pervious

    steel, temper, anneal, solidify, mineralize, vitrify, precipitate, hornify, cornify, crystallize, freeze, amalgamate, coagulate, clot, granulate, make callous, make firm, make compact, make tight, make hard, convert to stone, congeal, ossify, petrify, starch, cure, bake, dry, flatten, cement, compact, consolidate, concentrate, sun, fire, fossilize, desiccate, braze, vulcanize, Harveyize, callous, incrassate, indurate, deposit, candy, toughen, fix, concrete, inspissate, encrust, lapidify; see also compress, press 1, stiffen 2, thicken 2.

    Antonyms soften*, unloose, melt.

  2. To become less penetrable

    solidify, congeal, jell, become dense, fix, settle, become fast, petrify, ossify, freeze over, fossilize, clot, cake, set, firm, curdle, coagulate, close, contract; see also freeze 1, stiffen 1, thicken 1.

    Antonyms liquefy, thaw*, soften.

  3. To toughen

    acclimate, acclimatize, indurate, habituate, inure, season, make callous, make unfeeling, make obdurate, discipline, accustom, train, coarsen, roughen, sear, embitter, develop, strengthen, brutalize, render insensitive, render insensible, render unimpressible, blunt, dull, envenom, numb, stupefy, benumb, stun, paralyze, steel; see also deaden 1, stiffen 2, teach 2.

    Antonyms weaken*, debilitate, soften.

Harden Hacker Definition
To put a shell around a computer to protect it from intruders. To harden a system, the following techniques need to be done: The Operating System Software and the exposed services should be patched with the latest security fixes; the defaults should be removed; all unnecessary services should be shut down; and packet-filtering software should be installed.

See Also: Operating System Software; Patch.

Graham, R. Hacking Lexicon. [Online, 2001.] Robert Graham Website. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/resource_files/documentation/hacking-dict.html.
harden Usage Examples

Object

  • Pharaoh: At an earlier stage in the story we were told that Pharaoh hardened his heart.
  • artery: Arguments, anxiety, tension and repressed emotions all raise adrenaline levels which raises blood pressure by contracting and hardening the arteries over time.
  • blade: Powerful machine with 530mm long precision ground fully hardened dual action blades for cutting up to a maximum of 14mm diameter.
  • steel: Knives are made as a single piece of forged stainless steel especially hardened to maintain a cutting edge.
  • induction: The gears were all hobbed from the solid, shaved, induction hardened and honed to produce the correct tooth form.
  • battle: David O'Leary's babies were rapidly turning into battle hardened European warriors.

Preposition: into

  • rock: Marble stone consists of wavy layers of colored sediments that harden into rock.

Modifying Another Word

  • environmentally: Environmentally hardened, the Alcatel 1692 OPS modules can be placed in uncontrolled enclosures.
  • gradually: Over time, more and more layers of sediment built up and gradually hardened into rock.
  • sufficiently: When the joint has hardened sufficiently the excess flux is removed using a damp cloth.
  • specially: The working surfaces of this top quality anvil have been specially hardened to protect against wear.
  • rapidly: These stems are whitish when young, but rapidly harden to become green, tough, furrowed and woody.
  • quickly: The surface of products placed on the film is quickly hardened to a depth of around 1mm.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • off: These little plants are being hardened off in the cold frames at the moment.
  • up: I suppose it is a bit like people from Kent moving to Scotland - they have to harden up to the weather!

Followed by a transitive particle

  • off: You will then need to harden off the seed trays.

Used with why or when

  • when: And Dryden's suspicions harden when days later he finds the frozen body of Declan's best friend.

Infinitive complement

  • form: A number of thick, muddy deposits settled on the sea floor and slowly hardened to form rock.

Particle object:

  • plant: Take advantage of any fine mild weather to harden off bedding plants by placing outdoors during the day.

Preposition: of

  • artery: These lead to ' hardening of the arteries ' .
harden Quotes

Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fatherstempted me, proved me, and saw my work.Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

—Bible (Old Testament)

Browse dictionary entries near harden

  1. ‹ hardcover
  2. ‹ hardboard
  3. ‹ hardball
  4. ‹ hardback
  5. ‹ hard-wired
  6. ‹ hard wheat
  7. ‹ hard up
  8. ‹ hard-spun
  9. ‹ hard-shell
  10. ‹ hard-set
  1. hardened ›
  2. hardener ›
  3. hardening ›
  4. hardfisted ›
  5. hardgoods ›
  6. hardhack ›
  7. hardhanded ›
  8. hardhead ›
  9. hardhead sponge ›
  10. hardheaded ›