Chapter Happiness to Hardened of H by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

and fast

. (Naut.) See under Fast. — Hard finish (Arch.), a smooth finishing coat of hard fine plaster applied to the surface of rough plastering. — Hard lines, hardship; difficult conditions. — Hard money, coin or specie, as distinguished from paper money. — Hard oyster (Zoöl.), the northern native oyster. [Local, U. S.] — Hard pan, the hard stratum of earth lying beneath the soil; hence, figuratively, the firm, substantial, fundamental part or quality of anything; as, the hard pan of character, of a matter in dispute, etc. See Pan. — Hard rubber. See under Rubber. — Hard solder. See under Solder. — Hard water, water, which contains lime or some mineral substance rendering it unfit for washing. See Hardness, 3. — Hard wood, wood of a solid or hard texture; as walnut, oak, ash, box, and the like, in distinction from pine, poplar, hemlock, etc. — In hard condition, in excellent condition for racing; having firm muscles; — said of race horses.

Syn. — Solid; arduous; powerful; trying; unyielding; stubborn; stern; flinty; unfeeling; harsh; difficult; severe; obdurate; rigid. See Solid, and Arduous.

Hard
(Hard), adv. [OE. harde, AS. hearde.]

1. With pressure; with urgency; hence, diligently; earnestly.

And prayed so hard for mercy from the prince.

Dryden.

My father
Is hard at study; pray now, rest yourself.

Shak.

2. With difficulty; as, the vehicle moves hard.

3. Uneasily; vexatiously; slowly. Shak.

4. So as to raise difficulties. "The question is hard set." Sir T. Browne.

5. With tension or strain of the powers; violently; with force; tempestuously; vehemently; vigorously; energetically; as, to press, to blow, to rain hard; hence, rapidly; nimbly; as, to run hard.

6. Close or near.

Whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

Acts xviii. 7.

Hard by, near by; close at hand; not far off. "Hard by a cottage chimney smokes." Milton. — Hard pushed, Hard run, greatly pressed; as, he was hard pushed or hard run for time, money, etc. [Colloq.] — Hard up, closely pressed by want or necessity; without money or resources; as, hard up for amusements. [Slang]

Hard in nautical language is often joined to words of command to the helmsman, denoting that the order should be carried out with the utmost energy, or that the helm should be put, in the direction indicated, to the extreme limit, as, Hard aport! Hard astarboard! Hard alee! Hard aweather! Hard up!
Hard is also often used in composition with a participle; as, hard-baked; hard-earned; hard-featured; hard- working; hard-won.

Hard
(Hard) v. t. To harden; to make hard. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Hard
(Hard), n. A ford or passage across a river or swamp.

Hardbake
(Hard"bake`) n. A sweetmeat of boiled brown sugar or molasses made with almonds, and flavored with orange or lemon juice, etc. Thackeray.

Hardbeam
(Hard"beam`) n. (Bot.) A tree of the genus Carpinus, of compact, horny texture; hornbeam.