Strong and resilient; sturdy.
The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.
Difficult to cut or chew.
To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.
Used to indicate lack of sympathy
If you don't like it, tough!
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.
To endure.
We shall reminisce on how we toughed it through the winters as they reached the firm, long arm around to give the cold embrace, with ardor seldom loosed till warm winds Marched or Apriled in to soften winter's knuckles -- send rivulets of courage down to dandelions and tulips.
To toughen.
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 ...
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