toughness
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Related to toughness: Fracture toughness
tough
(tŭf)adj. tough·er, tough·est
1. Able to withstand great strain without tearing or breaking; strong and resilient: a tough all-weather fabric.
2. Hard to cut or chew: tough meat.
3.
a. Physically hardy; rugged: tough mountaineers; a tough cop.
b. Strong-minded; resolute: a tough negotiator.
4.
a. Aggressive; pugnacious.
b. Inclined to violent or disruptive behavior; rowdy or rough: a tough street group.
5.
a. Difficult to endure; severe; harsh: a tough winter.
b. Trying or unpleasant: had a tough day.
c. Difficult to deal with; demanding or troubling: It's tough to go to school and work a full-time job. The exam had many tough questions.
d. Informal Unfortunate; too bad: It was a tough break to get sick on the day of the concert.
6. Slang Fine; great.
n.
Idioms: A violent or rowdy person; a hoodlum or thug.
that's tough
Used to indicate recalcitrance or noncompliance with a complaint or demand.
tough it out Slang
To get through despite hardship; endure: "It helps if one was raised to tough it out" (Gail Sheehy).
[Middle English, from Old English tōh.]
tough′ly adv.
tough′ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
toughness
(ˈtʌfnɪs)n
1. the quality or an instance of being tough
2. (Metallurgy) metallurgy the ability of a metal to withstand repeated twisting and bending, measured by the energy in kilojoules needed to break it. See brittleness2, softness2
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Toughness
- Babies you about as much as Perry White babies Clark Kent —Peter H. Lewis describing a tough-to-master computer program, New York Times, 1985
- (The man is as) hard as a cash register —Dialogue, “Miami Vice” television drama, broadcast January 7, 1986
- (She can be) hard as a mineral —Philip Roth
The “Hard as a mineral” lady is the mother of Nathan Zuckerman, hero of several Roth novels.
- Hard as flint —Larry McMurtry
- Hard as my fist —Tennessee Williams
- Hard as a tortoise-shell —John Galsworthy
- Hardboiled as a picnic egg —Edward E. Paramore
- Resilient and tenacious as an amoeba —Natascha Wodin
- She’s [Genevieve Bujold] tough as a little green apple —Rex Reed
- Tough and leathery as a jockey —John Mortimer
- Tough and shrill as an old bird —H.E. Bates
- Tough and hard-boiled as an Easter egg —Anon
- Tough as a black oak —Dee Brown
- Tough as a bone —W. S. Gilbert
- Tough as a fast food steak —Tim McCarver, describing baseball player Dave Parker on television, January, 1987
- Tough as a kibbutz woman —T. Coraghessan Boyle
- (She was short and fat,) tough as a monkey —Rudolf Nassauer
- Tough as an elephant’s hide —Calder Willingham
- (He was as) tough as a resistant bacterium —Patrick Suskind
- Tough as a stale bagel —Anon
- (Memories as) tough as a thorn —Babette Deutsch
- Tough as boiled owls —Hubert H. Humphrey on his opponent for presidential election
- (She’s big as a damned barn and) tough as knife metal —Ken Kesey
- Tough as marshmallows —Anon, Forbes, March 23, 1987
The simile was used as a blurb to introduce an article about the government sounding tough but not following through.
- (She was) a tough lady, like a military jeep rolling from place to place on thick tires —Harvey Jacobs
- (She’s as) tough as old boots —Mary Bridgman
Around since 1870. A popular variant: “Tough as old shoe leather.”
- Tough as seaweed —Linda Pastan
- Tough as teak —Bryan Forbes
- Tough as tire treads —Lynn Haney
The person being compared to tire treads is the late Edith Piaf.
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
Noun | 1. | toughness - enduring strength and energy endurance - the power to withstand hardship or stress; "the marathon tests a runner's endurance" legs - staying power; "that old Broadway play really has legs" |
2. | toughness - the property of being big and strong strength - the property of being physically or mentally strong; "fatigue sapped his strength" | |
3. | toughness - the elasticity and hardness of a metal object; its ability to absorb considerable energy before cracking elasticity, snap - the tendency of a body to return to its original shape after it has been stretched or compressed; "the waistband had lost its snap" | |
4. | toughness - impressive difficulty difficultness, difficulty - the quality of being difficult; "they agreed about the difficulty of the climb" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
toughness
noun1. The fact or condition of being rigorous and unsparing:
2. Unwavering firmness of character, action, or will:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
قَسْوَه، صَلابَه، جَلافَه، خُشونَه
odolnosttuhost
barskhedsejhedstyrke
harka; staîfesta
toughness
[ˈtʌfnɪs] N2. [of substance, material] → dureza f, resistencia f
3. [of meat] → dureza f
4. [of policy, measure] → dureza f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
toughness
[ˈtʌfnɪs] nCollins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
toughness
n
(of meat etc) → Zähheit f; (of person) → Zähigkeit f; (= resistance) → Widerstandsfähigkeit f; (of cloth) → Strapazierfähigkeit f; (of skin) → Rauheit f; (of bargaining, negotiator, opponent, fight, struggle, lesson) → Härte f; (of district, city) → Rauheit f
(= harshness: of policy, controls) → Härte f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
toughness
[ˈtʌfnɪs] n (see adj)a. → resistenza, durezza, difficoltà f inv, accanimento
b. → resistenza, tenacia, inflessibilità f inv, violenza
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
tough
(taf) adjective1. strong; not easily broken, worn out etc. Plastic is a tough material.
2. (of food etc) difficult to chew.
3. (of people) strong; able to bear hardship, illness etc. She must be tough to have survived such a serious illness.
4. rough and violent. It's a tough neighbourhood.
5. difficult to deal with or overcome. a tough problem; The competition was really tough.
noun a rough, violent person; a bully.
ˈtoughness nounˈtoughen verb
to make or become tough.
tough luck bad luck. That was tough luck.
get tough with (someone) to deal forcefully with or refuse to yield to (a person). When he started to argue, I got tough with him.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.