Hardscrabble
[hahrd-skrab-uh l] /ˈhɑrdˌskræb əl/
adjective
1.
providing or yielding meagerly in return for much effort; demanding or unrewarding:
the hardscrabble existence of mountainside farmers.
/ˈhɑːdˌskræbəl/
noun (US, informal)
1.
(modifier) (of a place) difficult to make a living in; barren
2.
great effort made in the face of difficulties
adj.
1804, U.S. colloquial, the name of an imaginary barren place “where a livelihood may be obtained only under great hardship and difficulty;” from hard + scrabble. First recorded in journals of Lewis and Clark. Perhaps the original notion is “vigorous effort made under great stress,” though this sense is recorded slightly later (1812).
Read Also:
- Hard sector
storage An archaic floppy disk format employing multiple synchronisation holes in the media to define the sectors. (1995-01-24)
- Hard-sell
[hahrd-sel] /ˈhɑrdˈsɛl/ verb (used with or without object), hard-sold, hard-selling. 1. to sell or advertise (something) in a forceful and insistent way: to hard-sell new car models to reluctant buyers. 2. to convince (someone) in a forceful and insistent way: to hard-sell customers on a new product. adjective 3. characterized by or promoted through a […]
- Hard-set
[hahrd-set] /ˈhɑrdˈsɛt/ adjective 1. firmly or rigidly set; fixed: a hard-set smile. 2. in a difficult position: The troops were hard-set before their supplies came. 3. determined; obstinate.
- Hard-shell
[hahrd-shel] /ˈhɑrdˌʃɛl/ adjective 1. Also, hard-shelled. having a firm, hard shell, as a crab in its normal state; not having recently molted. 2. rigid or uncompromising. noun 3. . adjective 1. (zoology) having a shell or carapace that is thick, heavy, or hard 2. (US) strictly orthodox noun 3. another name for the quahog adjective […]
- Hardshell clam
noun 1. . noun 1. another name for the quahog noun See American quahog