tough
tough (tuf)
adjective
- strong but pliant; that will bend, twist, etc. without tearing or breaking
- that will not cut or chew easily tough steak
- strongly cohesive; glutinous; viscous; sticky tough putty
- strong of physique; robust; hardy
- displaying mental or moral firmness
- hard to convince or influence; stubborn
- practical and realistic rather than emotional or sentimental
- overly aggressive; brutal or rough
- very difficult; toilsome
- vigorous or violent a tough fight
- Informal unfavorable; bad a tough break
- ☆ Slang fine; excellent: a generalized term of approval
Etymology: ME < OE toh, akin to Ger zäh, tough, viscous, prob. < IE base *denk-, to bite > tongs
noun
a tough person; thug
tough it out
☆Slang to remain firm in the face of difficulty, often, specif., in a brazen or defiant way
tough out
Slangto remain firm in the face of (a specified difficulty) a generation that toughed out the Depression
tough
modif.
Strong
Cohesive
solid, firm, sturdy, hard, hardened, adhesive, leathery, coherent, inseparable, molded, tight, cemented, unbreakable, in one piece, dense, closely packed. Difficult to chew
uncooked, half-cooked, gristly, sinewy, indigestible, inedible, fibrous, old, tough as shoe-leather*; see also raw 1.Difficult
unyielding, hard, resisting, troublesome, onerous, intricate, puzzling, laborious; see also difficult 1, severe 1.Hardy
*Rough and cruel
savage, fierce, desperate, ferocious, ruffianly, uproarious, terrible, rapacious, riotous, uncontrollable, unmanageable. Antonyms
friendly*, genial*, easygoing. * *Unfavorable
bad, unfortunate, untimely; see unfavorable 2.*Excellent
fine, first-class, premium; see excellent.
tough it out
Preposition: on
- crime: Or, to revive a slogan coined by Brown: tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime.
- terror: BLAIR: Firstly, we must be tough on terror and tough on the causes of terror.
- cause: Tough on crime tough on the causes of crime.
- terrorism: He is trying to wrong-foot all those who oppose 90-days detention to prove that only he is tough on terrorism.
Preposition: as
- boot: She must be, as she looks, as tough as old boots.
Modifies a noun
- stance: We need to take a tough stance on all legal wrongs.
- opponent: You're almost there now: the penultimate chapter should detail a World XI, Club XI or toughest opponents XI.
- nut: A: Options on spread bets, options on futures, options on stocks, they're often a tough nut to crack.
- guy: Now he's set to become a Hollywood tough guy.
- decision: First, we took the tough decision to prioritize which schemes should get the go ahead.
- penalty: The campaign will also seek tougher new criminal penalties at the federal level.
Modifying Another Word
- pretty: The Pentium 4 was pretty tough for us to get ramped into the marketplace.
Infinitive complement
- withstand: The balls are made of wipe-clean vinyl that's tough enough to withstand heavy weights, and they are anti-burst for your safety.
- stomach: Tough to stomach farm would not central los angeles the new york.
- beat: The U.S. is overrated, I feel, and the Czechs will be very tough to beat.
- crack: Two games proving even tougher to crack than chess are bridge and Go.
Used with adjective complement
- get: Need to get tough on illegal immigrants working in the UK?
- prove: Two games proving even tougher to crack than chess are bridge and Go.
- talk: Gordon Brown started talking tough this week about standing up to the unions over pensions.
- hang: Spain, it is true, is still hanging tough despite massively mounting opposition to the policy of Jose Maria Aznar.
It's bloody tough being a legend.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
You help them get elected, and then the Senate becomes the wife, the mistress. That was one lady I couldn't begin to fight. She was too tough.
Labour is the Party of law and order in Britain todayötough on crime and tough on the causes of crime.
Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day likea football, and it will be round and full at evening.
Browse dictionary entries near tough
- touchy-feely
- touchy
- touchwood
- touchstone
- touchline
- touching
- touchhole
- touched
- touchdown
- touchback
- tough love
- tough-minded
- toughen
- toughie
- toujours
- Toulon
- Toulouse
- Toulouse-Lautrec
- toupee
- tour
