harden
/ˈhɑːdn/ (bre, ipa) · [hˈɑrdən] /ˈhɑːrdn/ (ame, ipa) · [hˈɑrdən] /ˈhär-dᵊn/ (ame, mw)
harden — verb
- hardenpresent simple I / you / we / they
- hardenshe / she / it
- hardenedpast simple
- hardening-ing form
1. When a soft or liquid substance hardens, or when something hardens it, it become
When a soft or liquid substance hardens, or when something hardens it, it becomes firm, solid, or stiff — for example, cement setting, wax cooling, or glue drying.
The cement will harden within a few hours, so you need to shape it quickly.
intransitive: material + harden + time phrase
Cold temperatures harden the ground, making it difficult to dig in winter.
Asher poured the hot wax and waited for it to harden into a smooth white shape.
The glue takes about an hour to harden fully, so hold the pieces in place.
文法句型
material + harden
agent + harden + material
harden + into + form
用法筆記
This sense describes a physical change in materials. The intransitive use ('The concrete hardened') is very common; the transitive use ('The cold hardened the ground') usually names a natural force or process as the agent.
常見錯誤
2. When someone's attitude, opinion, voice, or facial expression hardens — or when
When someone's attitude, opinion, voice, or facial expression hardens — or when something causes this change — that person's feelings grow more severe, less flexible, and less open to compromise. For instance, a politician hardening a stance after public pressure.
The mayor hardened her stance on traffic fines after several serious accidents.
collocation: harden stance/position/attitude
Hamza's voice hardened when he described the unfair treatment his team received.
Public opinion has hardened against the proposed tax increase over the past year.
The company hardened its position and refused to negotiate with the striking workers.
- stiffen
emphasises a sudden, visible change in posture or attitude
- toughen
implies making demands or rules stricter
- strengthen
broader; can apply to resolve, belief, or conviction
文法句型
opinion/attitude + harden
harden + possessive + stance/position
opinion + harden + against
用法筆記
Subject is often 'attitude', 'position', 'stance', 'voice', 'face', or 'expression'. Common in political, business, and interpersonal conflict contexts. The intransitive pattern with 'against' ('opinion hardens against') is typical in journalism.
常見錯誤
3. To make someone emotionally less sensitive, less easily shocked, or better able
To make someone emotionally less sensitive, less easily shocked, or better able to cope with difficult, dangerous, or unpleasant conditions — for example, a nurse becoming hardened to blood after years of work, or soldiers hardened by harsh training.
Years of working in a busy emergency room had hardened the nurses to blood and injury.
passive: be hardened to [something]
The soldiers were hardened by six months of training in freezing mountain conditions.
passive: be hardened by [experience]
Rania worried that living alone in a rough neighbourhood would harden her younger brother too quickly.
Joaquín had seen enough poverty on the streets to harden him to the sight of people sleeping on benches.
- toughen
more active sense of building strength, not just numbness
- desensitise
formal, focuses on loss of sensitivity, often negative
- inure
very formal, rarely used in everyday speech
文法句型
be hardened to [something]
be hardened by [experience]
experience + hardens + person
用法筆記
Frequently used in the passive voice ('be hardened by/to'). The object is usually a person or group. The variant 'be hardened to' carries the nuance of becoming indifferent or numb; 'be hardened by' emphasises the cause.
常見錯誤
harden — noun
1. Maximilian Harden (1861–1927, born Felix Ernst Witkowski), a German writer and l
Maximilian Harden (1861–1927, born Felix Ernst Witkowski), a German writer and literary critic best known for his political journalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Many scholars study Maximilian Harden's political writings from the Wilhelmine period in Germany.
surname used in historical/academic context
Harden's newspaper 'Die Zukunft' shaped public debate in early 20th-century Germany.
The biography explores how Harden influenced German cultural criticism before the First World War.
Historians often cite Harden's articles on European diplomacy during the Bismarck era.
2. Sir Arthur Harden (1865–1940), an English biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in
Sir Arthur Harden (1865–1940), an English biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1929 for his work on the fermentation of sugar and the role of enzymes.
Sir Arthur Harden shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on sugar fermentation.
surname used in scientific/biographical context
Harden's experiments revealed the role of phosphate compounds in yeast metabolism.
The laboratory at the Lister Institute was where Harden made his key discoveries about enzymes.
Biochemistry students still study Harden's work on co-enzymes and fermentation pathways.