noun
- the state or quality of being hard: the hardness of ice.
- a relative degree or extent of this quality: wood of a desirable hardness.
- that quality in water that is imparted by the presence of dissolved salts, especially calcium sulfate or bicarbonate.
- unfeelingness or jadedness; callousness.
- harshness or austerity, as of a difficult existence.
- South Midland U.S. ill will; bad feelings: There’s a lot of hardness between those two boys.
- Mineralogy. the comparative ability of a substance to scratch or be scratched by another.Compare Mohs scale.
- Metallurgy. the measured resistance of a metal to indention, abrasion, deformation, or machining.
noun
- the quality or condition of being hard
- one of several measures of resistance to indentation, deformation, or abrasionSee Mohs scale, Brinell hardness number
- the quality of water that causes it to impair the lathering of soap: caused by the presence of certain calcium salts. Temporary hardness can be removed by boiling whereas permanent hardness cannot
Old English heardnysse; see hard + -ness. Meaning “difficulty of action or accomplishment” is late 14c.
- A measure of how easily a mineral can be scratched. Hardness is measured on the Mohs scale.