HARDNESS
severity, severeness, harshness, rigor, rigour, rigorousness, rigourousness, inclemency, hardness, stiffness
(noun) excessive sternness; “severity of character”; “the harshness of his punishment was inhuman”; “the rigors of boot camp”
hardness, ruggedness
(noun) the quality of being difficult to do; “he assigned a series of problems of increasing hardness”; “the ruggedness of his exams caused half the class to fail”
unfeelingness, callousness, callosity, hardness, insensibility
(noun) devoid of passion or feeling; hardheartedness
hardness
(noun) a quality of water that contains dissolved mineral salts that prevent soap from lathering; “the costs of reducing hardness depend on the relative amounts of calcium and magnesium compounds that are present”
hardness
(noun) the property of being rigid and resistant to pressure; not easily scratched; measured on Mohs scale
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
hardness (countable and uncountable, plural hardnesses)
The quality of being hard.
An instance of this quality; hardship.
(inorganic chemistry) The quantity of calcium carbonate dissolved in water, usually expressed in parts per million (ppm).
The resistance to scratching, cutting, indentation or abrasion of a metal or other solid material.
(physics) The penetrating ability of electromagnetic radiation, such as x-rays; generally, the shorter the wavelength, the harder and more penetrating the radiation.
The measure of resistance to damage of a facility, equipment, installation, or telecommunications infrastructure when subjected to attack.
Anagrams
• Dashners
Source: Wiktionary
Hard"ness, n. Etym: [AS. heardness.]
1. The quality or state of being hard, literally or figuratively. The habit of authority also had given his manners some peremptory hardness. Sir W. Scott.
2. (Min.)
Definition: The cohesion of the particles on the surface of a body, determined by its capacity to scratch another, or be itself scratched;-measured among minerals on a scale of which diamond and talc form the extremes.
3. (Chem.)
Definition: The peculiar quality exhibited by water which has mineral salts dissolved in it. Such water forms an insoluble compound with soap, and is hence unfit for washing purposes.
Note: This quality is caused by the presence of calcium carbonate, causing temporary hardness which can be removed by boiling, or by calcium sulphate, causing permanent hardness which can not be so removed, but may be improved by the addition of sodium carbonate.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
12 January 2025
HABIT
(noun) (psychology) an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition; “owls have nocturnal habits”; “she had a habit twirling the ends of her hair”; “long use had hardened him to it”
Do you know this game?
Wordscapes is a popular word game consistently in the top charts of both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The Android version has more than 10 million installs. This guide will help you get more coins in less than two minutes of playing the game. Continue reading Wordscapes: Get More Coins