(adj) made tough by habitual exposure; ; - Robert Lynd; - V.S.Pritchett, Syn. hardened, inured, Example:hardened fishermen; a peasant, dark, lean-faced, wind-inured; our successors...may be graver, more inured and equable men
a. Experienced in combat, and therefore more effective at fighting; -- used mostly of infantry troops; as, battle-hardened veterans. Syn. -- combat-hardened, combat-tested. [ PJC ]
a. 1. Having the surface hardened, as iron tools. [ 1913 Webster ]
2. Hardened against, or insusceptible to, good influences; rendered callous by persistence in wrongdoing or resistance of good influences; -- said of persons. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. 1. Made hard, or harder, or compact; made unfeeling or callous; made obstinate or obdurate; confirmed in error or vice.
2. Rendered resistant to the effects of nearby explosions; as, a hardened missile silo; hardened warhead electronics. [ PJC ]
3. Experienced and inured to hardship; as, hardened combat troops. [ PJC ]
4. Strongly habituated to a certain type of behavior, and unlikely to change; as, a hardened criminal. Usually used only of behavior perceived negatively. [ PJC ]