a. Experienced in combat, and therefore more effective at fighting; -- used mostly of infantry troops;
v. t.
a.
n. The act or process of converting the surface of iron into steel. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ Casehardening is now commonly effected by cementation with charcoal or other carbonizing material, the depth and degree of hardening (carbonization) depending on the time during which the iron is exposed to the heat. See Cementation. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. [ Pref. en- + harden: cf. F. enhardir to embolden. ] To harden; to embolden. [ Obs. ] Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. to harden (steel) by adding carbon. [ WordNet 1.5 ]
v. t. To harden, as a metal, by hammering it in the cold state. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t.
I would harden myself in sorrow. Job vi. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. i.
The deliberate judgment of those who knew him [ A. Lincoln ] has hardened into tradition. The Century. [ 1913 Webster ]
They, hardened more by what might most reclaim. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
prop. n. A small genus of Australian woody vines with small violet flowers; closely related to genus Kennedia.
a.
n. One who, or that which, hardens; specif., one who tempers tools. [ 1913 Webster ]
n.
v. t. To harden too much; to make too hard. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. (Metal.) Designating, or pert. to, any of various steels that harden when heated to above a red heat and cooled in air, usually in a blast of cold air with moderate rapidity, without quenching. Such steels are alloys of iron and carbon with manganese, tungsten and manganese, chromium, molybdenum and manganese, etc. They are chiefly used as high-speed steels. --