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HARD TIME
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A difficulty that can be overcome with effort
Example:
analysts predicted rough sledding for handset makers
Synonyms:
hard time; rough sledding
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("hard time" is a kind of...):
difficulty (a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A term served in a maximum security prison
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("hard time" is a kind of...):
prison term; sentence; time (the period of time a prisoner is imprisoned)
Context examples:
He traveled a long while, nearly eight-and-twenty years, and had a hard time of it, till he came to the palace of a good old king, who had offered a reward to anyone who could tame and train a fine but unbroken colt, of which he was very fond.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Waiting to welcome Jupiter will be several heavenly bodies including Pluto and Saturn, two planets that had given you a hard time in your closest committed relationship, but now will be considerably softened by the presence of Jupiter.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
Poor little souls, they will have a hard time, I'm afraid, but they won't suffer, and it will do them good, she said, producing the more palatable viands with which she had provided herself, and disposing of the bad breakfast, so that their feelings might not be hurt, a motherly little deception for which they were grateful.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
You don't have half such a hard time as I do, said Jo. How would you like to be shut up for hours with a nervous, fussy old lady, who keeps you trotting, is never satisfied, and worries you till you're ready to fly out the window or cry?
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
