(hardens, hardening, hardened)
1.
When something hardens or when you harden it, it becomes stiff or firm.
Mould the mixture into shape while hot, before it hardens...
Give the cardboard two or three coats of varnish to harden it.
VERB: V, V n
2.
When an attitude or opinion hardens or is hardened, it becomes harsher, stronger, or fixed.
Their action can only serve to harden the attitude of landowners...
The bitter split which has developed within Solidarity is likely to harden further into separation.
VERB: V n, V
• hardening
...a hardening of the government's attitude towards rebellious parts of the army.
N-SING: usu N of n
3.
When prices and economies harden, they become much more stable than they were.
Property prices are just beginning to harden again.
VERB: V
4.
When events harden people or when people harden, they become less easily affected emotionally and less sympathetic and gentle than they were before.
Her years of drunken bickering hardened my heart...
All of a sudden my heart hardened against her.
VERB: V n, V against n
5.
If you say that someone's face or eyes harden, you mean that they suddenly look serious or angry.
His smile died and the look in his face hardened.
VERB: V