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Tough   /təf/   Listen
adjective
Tough  adj.  (compar. tougher; superl. toughest)  
1.
Having the quality of flexibility without brittleness; yielding to force without breaking; capable of resisting great strain; as, the ligaments of animals are remarkably tough. "Tough roots and stubs. "
2.
Not easily broken; able to endure hardship; firm; strong; of objects and people; as, tough sinews. "A body made of brass, the crone demands,... Tough to the last, and with no toil to tire." "The basis of his character was caution combined with tough tenacity of purpose."
3.
Not easily separated; viscous; clammy; tenacious; as, tough phlegm.
4.
Stiff; rigid; not flexible; stubborn; as, a tough bow. "So tough a frame she could not bend."
5.
Severe; violent; as, a tough storm. (Colloq.) " A tough debate. "
6.
Difficult to do, perform, or accomplish; as, a tough job.
7.
Prone to aggressive or violent behavior; rowdyish; of people, or groups; as, a tough neighborhood; a tough character.
To make it tough, to make it a matter of difficulty; to make it a hard matter. (Obs.)


noun
tough  n.  A person who is tough (7); a ruffian; a thug; as, a cluster of neighborhood toughs hanging out on the corner.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Tough" Quotes from Famous Books



... young King hath about him no more true men than he needeth. And as I wait at his coucher, betimes I can drop a word in his ear that may, an' it please God, be to his profit. He is yet tender ground, and the seed may take root and thrive: and I am tough gnarled old root, that can thole a blow or twain, and a rough wind by now ...
— In Convent Walls - The Story of the Despensers • Emily Sarah Holt
... for their master gallantly, with their tough oaken staves; and the young man showed his patrician blood by his patrician courage in the fray. Flaccus, too, wished and endeavored to interpose, not so much that he cared to shield his unworthy kinsman, as that he sought to preserve the energies of the people for a more noble trial. ...
— The Roman Traitor (Vol. 2 of 2) • Henry William Herbert
... countenance could be the one for whom they were searching. At Queensferry the house still stands where he and Captain Hall were arrested. The brave Captain threw himself between Cargill and the officer. The struggle was a tough one; Hall was mortally wounded; Cargill, too, was much hurt but escaped. But this did not prevent him from keeping his engagement at a Conventicle; he preached in his wounds. Nothing but death seemed able to check this man of God in the work of the ...
— Sketches of the Covenanters • J. C. McFeeters
... off with his bag while he was eating," remarked Fred. "Rather tough luck if he had anything of real value ...
— The Rover Boys on a Hunt - or The Mysterious House in the Woods • Arthur M. Winfield (Edward Stratemeyer)
... to be tough, but I remember how we used to make steak tender at home by beating it before it was cooked. We might serve a thousand pounds or two of this bull in that manner. Besides, we want ...
— The Last of the Chiefs - A Story of the Great Sioux War • Joseph Altsheler


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