- 1with great effort; with difficulty to work hard You must try harder. She tried her hardest not to show how disappointed she was. Don't hit it so hard! He was still breathing hard after his run. Our victory was hard won (= won with great difficulty). with force
- 2with great force (figurative) Small businesses have been hit hard/hard hit by the recession.
- 3very carefully and thoroughly to think hard We thought long and hard before deciding to move into a new house. a lot
- 4heavily; a lot or for a long time It was raining hard when we set off. left/right
- 5at a sharp angle to the left/right Make a hard right at the next intersection. Which Word?hard / hardly
- The adverb from the adjective hard is hard:I have to work hard today. She has thought very hard about her future plans. It was raining hard outside.
- Hardly is an adverb meaning “almost not”:I hardly ever go to concerts. I can hardly wait for my birthday.It cannot be used instead of hard:I’ve been working hardly today. She has thought very hardly about her future plans. It was raining hardly outside.
with effort
to find it very difficult to do something He was hard put to explain her disappearance.
to have too few or too little of something We're hard up for ideas. see hard up
very soon after His death followed hard on hers.
used to say that things change very slowly
very close behind someone or something; very soon after something News of rising unemployment followed hard on the heels of falling export figures. He ran ahead, with the others hot on his heels
to be very upset by something He took his wife's death very hard.
Check pronunciation: hard