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Hard vs Firm - What's the difference?

hard | firm |

As adjectives the difference between hard and firm

is that hard is having a severe property; presenting difficulty while firm is steadfast, secure, hard (in position.

As nouns the difference between hard and firm

is that hard is a firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water while firm is a business partnership; the name under which it trades.

As an adverb hard

is with much force or effort.

As a verb firm is

to make firm or strong; fix securely.

hard

English

Adjective

(er)
  • (label) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty.
  • # Resistant to pressure.
  • # (label) Strong.
  • # (label) High in dissolved calcium compounds.
  • # Having the capability of being a permanent magnet by being a material with high magnetic coercivity (compare soft).
  • (label) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty.
  • # Requiring a lot of effort to do or understand.
  • #* 1988 , An Oracle , Edmund White
  • Ray found it hard to imagine having accumulated so many mannerisms before the dawn of sex, of the sexual need to please, of the staginess sex encourages or the tightly capped wells of poisoned sexual desire the disappointed must stand guard over.
  • #*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-26, author= Nick Miroff
    • , volume=189, issue=7, page=32, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Mexico gets a taste for eating insects […] , passage=The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard -to-find critters such as ostrich, wild boar and crocodile.}}
  • # Demanding a lot of effort to endure.
  • # Severe, harsh, unfriendly, brutal.
  • # (label) Difficult to resist or control; powerful.
  • #* (w, Roger L'Estrange) (1616-1704)
  • The stag was too hard for the horse.
  • #* (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • a power which will be always too hard for them
  • Unquestionable.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 19, author=Kerry Brown, work=The Guardian
    • , title= Kim Jong-il obituary , passage=Unsurprisingly for a man who went into mourning for three years after the death in 1994 of his own father, the legendary leader Kim Il-sung, and who in the first 30 years of his political career made no public statements, even to his own people, Kim's career is riddled with claims, counter claims, speculation, and contradiction. There are few hard facts about his birth and early years. }}
  • (label) Having a comparatively larger or a ninety-degree angle.
  • Sexually aroused.
  • (label) Having muscles that are tightened as a result of intense, regular exercise.
  • (label)
  • # Plosive.
  • # Unvoiced
  • Hard' ''k'', ''t'', ''s'', ''ch'', as distinguished from '''soft , ''g'', ''d'', ''z'', ''j
  • (label) Having a severe property; presenting a barrier to enjoyment.
  • # Rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures; formal; lacking grace of composition.
  • # Having disagreeable and abrupt contrasts in colour or shading.
  • (label) In the form of a hard copy.
    • We need both a digital archive and a hard archive.

    Synonyms

    * (resistant to pressure ): resistant, solid, stony * (requiring a lot of effort to do or understand ): confusing, difficult, puzzling, tough, tricky * (requiring a lot of effort to endure ): difficult, intolerable, tough, unbearable * (severe ): harsh, hostile, severe, strict, tough, unfriendly * (unquestionable ): incontrovertible, indubitable, unambiguous, unequivocal, unquestionable * (of drink ): strong * See also

    Antonyms

    * (resistant to pressure ): soft * (requiring a lot of effort to do or understand ): easy, simple, straightforward, trite * (requiring a lot of effort to endure ): bearable, easy * (severe ): agreeable, amiable, approachable, friendly, nice, pleasant * (unquestionable ): controvertible, doubtful, ambiguous, equivocal, questionable * (of drink ): ** (low in alcohol ): low-alcohol ** (non-alcoholic ): alcohol-free, soft, non-alcoholic * (of roads) soft * ("sexually aroused"): soft, flaccid

    Derived terms

    * between a rock and a hard place * die-hard * hard as nails * hard-ass * hardboard * hard-boiled * hard by * hard candy * hard case * hard cheese * hard-coded * hard copy * hardcore * hard disk/hard disc * hard done by * hard drink * hard-edged * harden * hard feelings * hard grass * hard hat * hard head * hard-hearted * hard-hitting * hard knocks * hard labor * hard light * hard-liner * hard lines * hard luck * hardness * hard news * hard-on * hard-pressed * hard radiation * hard sauce * hard science fiction * hard-shell * hard times * hard to come by * hard to please * hard up * hardware * hard water * hard-wire * hardwood * hard work * have it hard * play hard to get * (hard)

    Adverb

    (er)
  • (manner) With much force or effort.
    • He hit the puck hard up the ice.
    They worked hard all week.
    At the intersection, bear hard left.
    The recession hit them especially hard .
    Think hard about your choices.
  • * Dryden
    • prayed so hard for mercy from the prince
  • * Shakespeare
    • My father / Is hard at study; pray now, rest yourself.
  • *
  • (manner) With difficulty.
    • His degree was hard earned.
    The vehicle moves hard .
  • (obsolete) So as to raise difficulties.
  • * Sir Thomas Browne
    • The question is hard set.
  • (manner) Compactly.
    • The lake had finally frozen hard .
  • Near, close.
  • * Bible, Acts xviii. 7
    • whose house joined hard to the synagogue
  • * 1999 , (George RR Martin), A Clash of Kings , Bantam 2011, p. 418:
    • It was another long day's march before they glimpsed the towers of Harrenhal in the distance, hard beside the blue waters of the lake.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nautical) A firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water

    • Statistics

    * English manner adverbs 1000 English basic words ----

    firm

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (UK, business) A business partnership; the name under which it trades.
  • (business, economics) A business enterprise, however organized.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=71, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= End of the peer show , passage=Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms.
  • (slang) A criminal gang.

    • Etymology 2

    (etyl) ferme, from (etyl) ferme, from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • steadfast, secure, hard (in position)
  • * It's good to have a firm grip when shaking hands.
  • fixed (in opinion)
    • a firm''' believer; a '''firm''' friend; a '''firm adherent
  • * He was firm that selling his company would a good choice and didn't let anyone talk him out of it.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=May 9 , author=John Percy , title=Birmingham City 2 Blackpool 2 (2-3 on agg): match report , work=the Telegraph citation , page= , passage=With such constant off-field turmoil Hughton’s work has been remarkable and this may have been his last game in charge. West Bromwich Albion, searching for a replacement for Roy Hodgson, are firm admirers.}}
  • solid, rigid (material state)
    • firm''' flesh; '''firm''' muscles, '''firm''' wood; '''firm land (i.e. not soft and marshy)
    Derived terms
    * firm up * firmish * firmly * firmness * firmware

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make firm or strong; fix securely.
  • To make compact or resistant to pressure; solidify.
  • To become firm; stabilise.
  • To improve after decline.
  • Aust. To shorten (of betting odds).

    • Anagrams

    * * ----