HARDENING
hardening
(noun) the act of making something harder (firmer or tighter or more compact)
hardening, solidifying, solidification, set, curing
(noun) the process of becoming hard or solid by cooling or drying or crystallization; “the hardening of concrete”; “he tested the set of the glue”
hardening
(noun) abnormal hardening or thickening of tissue
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Verb
hardening
present participle of harden
Noun
hardening (plural hardenings)
The process by which something hardens.
That which hardens, such as a material used for converting the surface of iron into steel.
Source: Wiktionary
Hard"en*ing, n.
1. Making hard or harder.
2. That which hardens, as a material used for converting the surface
of iron into steel.
HARDEN
Hard"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hardened; p. pr. & vb. n. Hardening.]
Etym: [OE. hardnen, hardenen.]
1. To make hard or harder; to make firm or compact; to indurate; as,
to harden clay or iron.
2. To accustom by labor or suffering to endure with constancy; to
strengthen; to stiffen; to inure; also, to confirm in wickedness or
shame; to make unimpressionable. "Harden not your heart." Ps. xcv. 8.
I would harden myself in sorrow. Job vi. 10.
Hard"en, v. i.
1. To become hard or harder; to acquire solidity, or more
compactness; as, mortar hardens by drying.
The deliberate judgment of those who knew him [A. Lincoln] has
hardened into tradition. The Century.
2. To become confirmed or strengthened, in either a good or a bad
sense.
They, hardened more by what might most reclaim. Milton.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition