How to Use harden in a Sentence

harden

verb
Definition of hardennext
Synonyms for hardennext
  • The presence of certain substances in the blood can cause the arteries to harden.
  • These additives are designed to harden the steel.
  • He had been hardened by his years of military service.
  • The news has hardened opposition to the government.
  • Again, your goal is not to harden your son to the meanness of the world.
    — Meghan Leahy, Washington Post, 21 Dec. 2022
  • When your bread is about to go stale, stick it in the freezer to harden.
    — People Staff, Peoplemag, 24 Oct. 2022
  • Only from the sixth plague on does the Torah state that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.
    — Rabbi Avi Weiss, Sun Sentinel, 8 Jan. 2024
  • And for now, the leak and Moscow’s response may well harden Mr. Scholz’s view.
    — Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Mar. 2024
  • Place the bars back on the parchment, pop them into the freezer to allow the chocolate to harden, and then dive in.
    — Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Oct. 2023
  • If the lime has fully hardened, looks dull, and/or feels light for its size, the pearls inside may have dried out.
    — Zoe Denenberg, Bon Appétit, 12 Jan. 2024
  • Old rags hardened by paint and ashtrays sat on tables; his trench coat hung on a wall.
    — Dina Gachman, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 July 2023
  • In Green Bay, the 38 degrees Fahrenheit of the system keeps the roots above freezing, but cold enough to let the grass begin to harden off and get tougher.
    — Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 18 Nov. 2022
  • These hormones can cause the arteries to harden and increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 15 Dec. 2022
  • The camera swivels from side to side, hardening the sense of his being under siege, and the movement prompts two thoughts.
    — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2023
  • His target looked like goo that had oozed from the sandstone cliff and hardened into a foot-thick slab of black amber.
    — Elise Cutts, Scientific American, 14 Mar. 2023
  • Their long bones are hardening, and their skin is thin and see-through but will soon become thicker.
    — Alexandra Frost, Parents, 5 Nov. 2023
  • Months of jungle slogs, sleeping in the rain, and subsisting on rice and fish paste hardened his body and resolve.
    — Jason Motlagh, Rolling Stone, 16 Apr. 2023
  • By that time Russia would have had even more time to harden its defenses.
    — Noah Robertson, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 July 2023
  • The company’s posture toward the union appeared to harden once Mr. Schultz took over in April.
    — Julie Creswell, New York Times, 11 Dec. 2022
  • As a result, arteries and tissues may harden faster and cause damage to the heart and kidneys.
    — Bryant Stamford, The Courier-Journal, 15 Sep. 2022
  • Somewhere in the middle, Wexler hardened his resolve and gathered the courage to ask Joel about his unfinished songs.
    — Jenna Wang, Peoplemag, 14 Mar. 2024
  • Harvest the gourds when the shell starts to harden and begins to separate from the interior fibers.
    — Rita Pelczar, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Sep. 2023
  • The consolation on offer lives mostly in the prose, which feels hardened by a world-weary resolve not to be conned by false hope.
    — Peter C. Baker, The New Yorker, 7 July 2023
  • Whitney keeps her game face on through all this, her smile hardening slightly.
    — Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2023
  • Trust in government has fallen in the U.S. as the share of Americans who think the country is on the wrong track rose, and partisan lines have hardened.
    — David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 17 Dec. 2023
  • That was, in essence, what set us not just on a path of absolutely hardening relations but on a path to this war.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2023
  • But this conflict dies away in time, as people age and identities harden.
    — Ben Jacobs, The New Republic, 21 Sep. 2023
  • Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel while decorating, as the icing will start to dry and harden very quickly.
    — Bradley Ford, Popular Mechanics, 30 Nov. 2022
  • But there is a human cause to the hardening partisan divide.
    — Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2023
  • In recent years, as pitching has become less of an art and more of a science, that attitude has hardened.
    — Bruce Schoenfeld, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'harden.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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