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hard hit, be

hard hit, be idiom

Be adversely affected or be severely stricken, as in The walk-in clinics were hard hit by the new insurance laws. This idiom must be differentiated from the similar-sounding adjective hard-hitting, alluding to strenuous exertion, as in They were a hard-hitting team. [Second half of 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.