Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
adjective
- tough; stubborn.
- conditioned by battle or struggle: a hard-bitten army.
- grim or severe in judgment or attitude: a hard-bitten old teacher.
- hard-boiled(defs 2, 3).
adjective
- tough and realistic
“tough, tough in a fight,” literally “given to hard biting,” 1715, originally of dogs, from hard + bitten, with the past participle used actively (cf. ill-spoken).