harden

Meaning

Verb

1. To become hard.
2. To make something hard or harder.
3. To strengthen.
4. To modify (a website or other system) to make it resistant to malicious attacks.
5. To become or make (a person or thing) resistant or less sensitive.
6. (informal) To get an erection.
7. To become or make (a consonant) more fortis; to (cause to) undergo fortition.
8. To unpalatalize or velarize.

Noun

Alternative form of hurden (“coarse linen”)

Synonyms

become hard

temper

toughen

solidify

petrify

indurate

stiffen

strengthen

season

set

coarsen

congeal

inure

tighten

firm

steel

turn to stone

concrete

consolidate

fortify

cake

🍰

sclerosis

fossilize

freeze

gel

hard

clot

dry

thicken

chap

callous

ossify

cure

petrified

preserve

firm up

dehydrate

condense

roughen

become rough

make hard

mineralize

more acute

overlay

packed

plate

quench

reduce

reinforce

rigidify

seize up

setting

settle down

shorten

shrink

soak

solid

strength

tense

tie

torture

turn into stone

toughen up

vulcanization

become hardened

become stiff

become firm

become certain

caseharden

heat-treat

sclerotization

sclerotized

be set

make compact

make strong

become callous

accustom

make stiff

age

anneal

bake

be

become angry

become numb

beef up

braze

brutalize

build

calcify

case-harden

cirrhosis

coagulate

coat

🧥

compressed

congealed

contract

create

crystallize

curdle

dehumanize

demonize

desensitize

dip

discipline

dunk

embitter

encourage

familiarize

fashion

fasten

fix

forge

gild

harding

immerse

induration

invigorate

jell

Hyphenated as

hard‧en

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhɑɹdn̩/

Etymology

From Middle English hardenen, equivalent to hard + -en. Cognate with Danish hærdne (“to harden; cure”), Swedish hårdna (“to harden”), Norwegian herdne (“to harden”), Icelandic harðna (“to harden”).