Result from Foreign Dictionaries (3 entries found)

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Tough \Tough\, a. [Compar. {Tougher}; superl. {Toughest}.] [OE. tough, AS. t[=o]h, akin to D. taai, LG. taa, tage, tau, OHG. z[=a]hi, G. z[aum]he, and also to AS. getenge near to, close to, oppressive, OS. bitengi.] 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. " --Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. Not easily broken; able to endure hardship; firm; strong; -- of objects and people; as, tough sinews. --Cowper. [1913 Webster] A body made of brass, the crone demands, . . . Tough to the last, and with no toil to tire. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] The basis of his character was caution combined with tough tenacity of purpose. --J. A. Symonds. [1913 Webster] 3. Not easily separated; viscous; clammy; tenacious; as, tough phlegm. [1913 Webster] 4. Stiff; rigid; not flexible; stubborn; as, a tough bow. [1913 Webster] So tough a frame she could not bend. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 5. Severe; violent; as, a tough storm. [Colloq.] " A tough debate. " --Fuller. [1913 Webster] 6. Difficult to do, perform, or accomplish; as, a tough job. [PJC] 7. Prone to aggressive or violent behavior; rowdyish; -- of people, or groups; as, a tough neighborhood; a tough character. [PJC] {To make it tough}, to make it a matter of difficulty; to make it a hard matter. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: tough \tough\, n. A person who is tough[7]; a ruffian; a thug; as, a cluster of neighborhood toughs hanging out on the corner. [PJC] From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: tough adj 1: not given to gentleness or sentimentality; "a tough character" [ant: {tender}] 2: very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution; "a rugged competitive examination"; "the rugged conditions of frontier life"; "the competition was tough"; "it's a tough life"; "it was a tough job" [syn: {rugged}, {tough}] 3: physically toughened; "the tough bottoms of his feet" [syn: {tough}, {toughened}] [ant: {tender}, {untoughened}] 4: substantially made or constructed; "sturdy steel shelves"; "sturdy canvas"; "a tough all-weather fabric"; "some plastics are as tough as metal" [syn: {sturdy}, {tough}] 5: violent and lawless; "the more ruffianly element"; "tough street gangs" [syn: {ruffianly}, {tough}] 6: feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad'); "my throat feels bad"; "she felt bad all over"; "he was feeling tough after a restless night" [syn: {bad}, {tough}] 7: resistant to cutting or chewing [ant: {tender}] 8: unfortunate or hard to bear; "had hard luck"; "a tough break" [syn: {hard}, {tough}] 9: making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe; "a baffling problem"; "I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast"; "a problematic situation at home" [syn: {baffling}, {elusive}, {knotty}, {problematic}, {problematical}, {tough}] n 1: someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing [syn: {street fighter}, {tough}] 2: an aggressive and violent young criminal [syn: {hood}, {hoodlum}, {goon}, {punk}, {thug}, {tough}, {toughie}, {strong-armer}] 3: a cruel and brutal fellow [syn: {bully}, {tough}, {hooligan}, {ruffian}, {roughneck}, {rowdy}, {yob}, {yobo}, {yobbo}]