hardness

«hardness» in Mova's school dictionary: how hard something is: how well it resists being… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (hardness — uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Hardness is how hard something is: how well it resists being scratched, dented or pressed. tree →

2) Hardness of water means how many minerals, like calcium, are dissolved in it. tree →

3) Hardness can mean being harsh or unkind (hardness of heart). tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons on materials, pupils test hardness by scratching materials with a fingernail, a coin or a nail; diamond is the hardest natural material. Geologists use the Mohs scale, from talc (1, softest) to diamond (10, hardest). Hard water leaves white limescale in kettles. In stories, hardness of a character means they seem cold and unkind.

examples

• We tested the hardness of different rocks by scratching them. tree →
• Diamond has the greatest hardness of any natural material. tree →
• The hardness of the wood made it difficult to hammer a nail in. tree →
• Talc is at the bottom of the hardness scale. tree →
• Hard water leaves white marks in the kettle. tree →
• The hardness in his voice surprised her. tree →

note

Uncountable noun from «hard» + -ness. Hardness is not the same as strength: glass is hard but breaks easily (it is brittle). On the Mohs scale a higher number means harder; each material scratches those with lower numbers.

In the corpora

• Geologists identify minerals by hardness, colour, lustre (shine), streak and how they break.
• Hardness of minerals is compared by scratching: a harder mineral scratches a softer one; diamond is the hardest natural mineral.
• Thou wilt give them hardness of heart, Thy curse unto them.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «hardness» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.