hardenings
plural of hardening
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.
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
2 April 2025
(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
