tough : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: tough	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for tough
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
tough adj not given to gentleness or sentimentality; "a tough character" Antonym(s): tender 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" Synonym(s): rugged, tough physically toughened; "the tough bottoms of his feet" Synonym(s): tough, toughened Antonym(s): tender, untoughened substantially made or constructed; "sturdy steel shelves"; "sturdy canvas"; "a tough all-weather fabric"; "some plastics are as tough as metal" Synonym(s): sturdy, tough violent and lawless; "the more ruffianly element"; "tough street gangs" Synonym(s): ruffianly, tough 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" Synonym(s): bad, tough resistant to cutting or chewing Antonym(s): tender unfortunate or hard to bear; "had hard luck"; "a tough break" Synonym(s): hard, tough 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" Synonym(s): baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, problematical, tough n someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing Synonym(s): street fighter, tough an aggressive and violent young criminal Synonym(s): hood, hoodlum, goon, punk, thug, tough, toughie, strong-armer a cruel and brutal fellow Synonym(s): bully, tough, hooligan, ruffian, roughneck, rowdy, yob, yobo, yobbo
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Tough \Tough\, a. [Compar. {Tougher}; superl. {Toughest}.] [OE. tough, AS. t[omac]h, akin to D. taai, LG. taa, tage, tau, OHG. z[amac]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. [bd]Tough roots and stubs. [b8] --Milton. 2. Not easily broken; able to endure hardship; firm; strong; as, tough sinews. --Cowper. A body made of brass, the crone demands, . . . Tough to the last, and with no toil to tire. --Dryden. The basis of his character was caution combined with tough tenacity of purpose. --J. A. Symonds. 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. --Dryden. 5. Severe; violent; as, a tough storm. [Colloq.] [bd] A tough debate. [b8] --Fuller. {To make it tough}, to make it a matter of difficulty; to make it a hard matter. [Obs.] --Chaucer.