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tough

adj
/tʌf/US/tɐf/

Etymology

From Middle English tough, towgh, tou, toȝ, from Old English tōh (“tough, tenacious, holding fast together; pliant; sticky, glutinous, clammy”), from Proto-West Germanic *tą̄h(ī), from Proto-Germanic *tanhuz (“fitting; clinging; tenacious; tough”), from *tinganą (“to press upon, throng”), from Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- (“to bite”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian toai (“tough”), Bavarian zaach, zach (“tough”), Dutch taai (“tough”), German zäh, zähe (“tough”), Limburgish tiee (“tough”), Luxembourgish zéi (“tough”); also Ancient Greek δάκνω (dáknō, “to bite”), Albanian danë, darë (“tongs; pincers; pliers”), Sanskrit दशति (daśati, “to bite”).

  1. derived from *denḱ-✻ — “to bite”
  2. inherited from *tanhuz✻ — “fitting; clinging; tenacious; tough”
  3. inherited from *tą̄h(ī)✻
  4. inherited from tōh — “tough, tenacious, holding fast together; pliant; sticky, glutinous, clammy”
  5. inherited from tough

Definitions

  1. Strong and resilient

    Strong and resilient; sturdy.

    • The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.

  2. Difficult to cut or chew.

    • To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.

  3. Rugged or physically hardy.

    • Only a tough species will survive in the desert.
    • But before you quit turkey hunting and take up model-train collecting, let me give you the good news: you can score on tough turkeys. In fact, you can kill the toughest turkey in the woods.
  4. ›+ 11 more definitions

    1. Stubborn or persistent

      Stubborn or persistent; capable of stubbornness or persistence.

      • He had a reputation as a tough negotiator.

    2. Harsh or severe.

    3. Rowdy or rough.

      • A bunch of the tough boys from the wrong side of the tracks threatened him.

    4. Difficult or demanding.

      • This is a tough crowd.
      • Anderson: We fought hard to get here. But now the toughest part of our mission begins. Anderson: We've got to drive right through the heart of Reaper-controlled territory, break past their defenses, and get to that beacon.

    5. Undergoing plastic deformation before breaking.

    6. Strict, not lenient.

      • tough on crime

    7. Used to indicate lack of sympathy

      • If you don't like it, tough!

    8. A person who obtains things by force

      A person who obtains things by force; a thug or bully.

      • They were doing fine until they encountered a bunch of toughs from the opposition.
      • He was in his early fifties, extensively tattooed, just the sort of tough I wouldn't want to meet alone in a parking lot at night, but right then he was whimpering.

    9. To endure.

      • “No,” said Minott, “I've toughed it through the winter, and i want to stay and hear the bluebirds once more.

    10. To toughen.

    11. A surname.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at tough. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01tough02resilient03elastic04clothing05cover06lid07cannabis

A definitional loop anchored at tough. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at tough

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA