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[hard line] Tough political policy. * /Although modern economists were trying to persuade him to open up to the West, Castro has always taken the hard line approach./

[hard-liner] A politician who takes the hard line. See: HARD LINE.

[hard luck] See: TOUGH LUCK.

[hardly any] or [scarcely any] Almost no or almost none; very few. * /Hardly any of the students did well on the test, so the teacher explained the lesson again./ * /Charles and his friends each had three cookies, and when they went out, hardly any cookies were left./

[hardly ever] or [scarcely ever] Very rarely; almost never; seldom. * /It hardly ever snows in Florida./ * /Johnny hardly ever reads a book./

[hard-nosed] , Tough or rugged; very strict; not weak or soft; stubborn, especially in a fight or contest. * /Joe's father was a hard-nosed army officer who had seen service in two wars./ * /Pete is a good boy; he plays hard-nosed football./ Compare: HARD-BOILED.

[hard nut to crack] also [tough nut to crack] , Something difficult to understand or to do. * /Tom's algebra lesson was a hard nut to crack./ * /Mary found knitting a hard nut to crack./ Compare: HARD ROW TO HOE.

[hard of hearing] Partially deaf. * /Some people who are hard of hearing wear hearing aids./

[hard-on] , , . An erection of the male sexual organ.

[hard put] or [hard put to it] In a difficult position; faced with difficulty; barely able. * /John was hard put to find a good excuse for his lateness in coming to school./ * /The scouts found themselves hard put to it to find the way home./

[hard row to hoe] or [tough row to hoe] A hard life to live; a very hard job to do. * /She has a hard row to hoe with six children and her husband dead./ * /Young people without enough education will have a tough row to hoe when they have to support themselves./ Syn.: HARD SLEDDING. Compare: DOWN ON ONE'S LUCK, HARD NUT TO CRACK.

[hard sell] , A kind of salesmanship characterized by great vigor, aggressive persuasion, and great eagerness on the part of the person selling something; opposed to "soft sell". * /Your hard sell turns off a lot of people; try the soft sell for a change, won't you?/

[hard sledding] or [rough sledding] or [tough sledding] , Difficulty in succeeding or making progress. * /Jane had hard sledding in her math course because she was poorly prepared./ * /When Mr. Smith started his new business, he had tough sledding for a while but things got better./

[hard-top] 1. A car that has a metal roof; a car that is not a convertible. * /Every spring Mr. Jones sells his hard-top and buys a convertible./ 2. or [hardtop convertible] A car with windows that can be completely lowered with no partitions left standing, and with a top that may or may not be lowered. * /Mr. Brown's new car is a hardtop convertible./

[hard up] , Without enough money or some other needed thing. * /Dick was hard up and asked Lou to lend him a dollar./ * /The campers were hard up for water because their well had run dry./ Compare: UP AGAINST IT.

[hard way] The harder or more punishing of two or more ways to solve a problem, do something, or learn something. - Used with "the". * /The mayor refused the help of the crooks and won the election the hard way by going out to meet the people./ * /The challenger found out the hard way that the champion's left hand had to be avoided./

[hare] See: MAD AS A HATTER or MAD AS A MARCH HARE, RUN WITH THE HARE AND HUNT (RIDE) WITH THE HOUNDS.

[harebrained] Thoughtless; foolish. * /Most of the harebrained things Ed does may be attributable to his youth and lack of experience./

[hark back] , 1. To recall or turn back to an earlier time or happening. * /Judy is always harking back to the good times she had at camp./ 2. To go back to something as a beginning or origin. * /The cars of today hark back to the first automobiles made about 1900./ * /The slit in the back of a man's coal harks back to the days when men rode horseback./

[harp away at] or [on] To mention again and again. * /In his campaign speeches, Jones harps on his rival's wealth and powerful friends./

[Harry] See: TOM, DICK, AND HARRY.

[harum-scarum(1)] , In a careless, disorderly or reckless way. * /Jim does his homework harum-scarum, and that is why his schoolwork is so poor./

[harum-scarum(2)] , Careless, wild, or disorderly in one's acts or performance; reckless. * /Jack is such a harum-scarum boy that you can never depend on him to do anything right./

[hash] See: SETTLE ONE'S HASH, SLING HASH.

[hash house] , An eating place where cheap meals are served. * /Joe and his friends went to a hash house around the corner after the game./

[hash out] , To talk all about and try to agree on; discuss thoroughly. * /The teacher asked Susan and Jane to sit down together and hash out their differences./ * /The students hashed out the matter and decided to drop it./

[hash up] , 1. To make a mess of; do badly. * /Bob really hashed up that exam and failed the course./ 2. To bring to life; remember and talk about. * /The teacher advised Sue not to hash up old bitterness against her schoolmates./

[haste] See: MAKE HASTE.

[hat] See: AT THE DROP OF A HAT, BRASS HAT, HANG ON TO YOUR HAT or HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT or HOLD YOUR HAT, HIGH-HAT, KEEP UNDER ONE'S HAT, OLD HAT, PULL OUT OF A HAT, TAKE OFF ONE'S HAT TO, TALK THROUGH ONE'S HAT, TEN-GALLON HAT, THROW ONE'S HAT IN THE RING.

[hat in hand] , In a humble and respectful manner. * /They went hat in hand to the old woman to ask for her secret recipe./

[hatch] See: COUNT ONE'S CHICKENS BEFORE THEY ARE HATCHED.

[hatchet] See: BURY THE HATCHET.

[hatchet face] A long narrow face with sharp parts; also, a person with such a face. * /Johnny was sent to the principal's office because he called his teacher old hatchet face./ * /He was hatchet-faced and not at all handsome./

[hatchet job] , 1. The act of saying or writing terrible things about someone or something, usually on behalf of one's boss or organization. * /When Phil makes speeches against the competition exaggerating their weaknesses, he is doing the hatchet job on behalf of our president./ 2. A ruthless, wholesale job of editing a script whereby entire paragraphs or pages are omitted. * /Don, my editor, did a hatchet job on my new novel./

[hatchet man] , 1. A politician or newspaper columnist whose job is to write and say unfavorable things about the opposition. * /Bill Lerner is the hatchet man for the Mayor's Party; he smears all the other candidates regularly./ 2. An executive officer in a firm whose job it is to fire superfluous personnel, cut back on the budget, etc., in short, to do the necessary but unpleasant things. * /The firm hired Cranhart to be hatchet man; his title is that of Executive Vice President./

[hate one's guts] , To feel a very strong dislike for someone. * /Dick said that he hated Fred's guts because Fred had been very mean to him./

[hats off to] or [one's hat is off to] , Used to recognize and praise a job well-done. * /Hats off to anyone who runs the twenty-six mile race./ * /My hat is off to the chef who created this delicious meal./ Compare: TAKE OFF ONE'S HAT TO.

[hatter] See: MAD AS A HATTER.

[haul] See: LONG HAUL.

[haul down] , 1. To catch (as a ball) usually after a long run. * /Willie hauled down a long fly to center field for the third out./ * /The star halfback hauled down the pass for a touchdown./ 2. To tackle in football. * /Ted was hauled down from behind when he tried to run with the ball./

[haul down one's colors] or [strike one's colors] 1. To pull down a flag, showing you are beaten and want to stop fighting. * /After a long battle, the pirate captain hauled down his colors./ 2. To admit you are beaten; say you want to quit. * /After losing two sets of tennis, Tom hauled down his color./

[haul in] or [haul up] or [pull in] , To bring before someone in charge for punishment or questioning; arrest. * /John was hauled in to court for speeding./ * /The tramp was hauled up for sleeping on the sidewalk./ Compare: CALL ON THE CARPET.

[haul in one's horns] See: PULL IN ONE'S HORNS.

[haul off] To move suddenly. - Used with "and" usually before a verb like "hit" or "kick". * /Ed hauled off and hit the other boy in the nose./ * /Lee hauled off and threw a touchdown pass./

[haul over the coals] or [rake over the coals] To criticize sharply; rebuke; scold. * /The sergeant raked the soldier over the coals for being late for roll call./ Syn.: DRESS DOWN.

[have] See: CAT HAS NINE LIVES, ONE'S CAKE AND HAVE IT TOO, EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING, EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY, HAVE NOTHING ON or HAVE ANYTHING ON, LITTLE PITCHERS HAVE BIG EARS, or an important word after this in the sentence.

[have] or [get] or [develop a crush on] To be infatuated with someone. * /Walter has a terrible crush on his English teacher, but she is a lot older and doesn't take it seriously./

[have a ball] , Enjoy yourself very much; have a wonderful time. * /Johnny had a ball at camp./ * /Mary and Tim have a ball exploring the town./ * /After their parents left, the children had a ball./ Syn.: HAVE A TIME(2).

[have a bone to pick] See: BONE TO PICK.

[have a care] , To be careful what you do. * /Jane, have a care what you're doing with that valuable glass./ * /The judge told him to have a care what he said in court./

[have a field day] To enjoy great success or unlimited opportunity. * /The visiting basketball team was so weak that our school had a field day scoring one point after another./

[have a finger in the pie] See: FINGER IN THE PIE.

[have a fit] or [have fits] or [throw a fit] 1. To have a sudden illness with stiffness or jerking of the body. * /Our dog had a fit yesterday./ 2. To become angry or upset. * /Father will throw a fit when he sees the dent in the car./ * /Howard will have a fit when he learns that he lost the election./ * /When John decided to drop out of college, his parents had fits./

[have a go at] , To try, especially after others have tried. * /Bob asked Dick to let him have a go at shooting at the target with Dick's rifle./ * /She had a go at archery, but did not do very well./

[have a good head on one's shoulders] To be smart; intelligent; well educated. * /Rob is not the handsomest guy in the world but the girls appreciate him because he has a good head on his shoulders./

[have a (good) head for] To have a special talent in a certain area. * /Joan has quite a good head for business administration./

[have a (good) mind to] To consider doing; intend to with a high degree of probability. * /I have a good mind to tell my boss that he doesn't know how to run our enterprise./

[have a hand in] To have a part in or influence over; to be partly responsible for. * /Sue's schoolmates respect her and she has a hand in every important decision made by the Student Council./ * /Ben had a hand in getting ready the Senior play./ Compare: FINGER IN THE PIE.

[have a heart] , To stop being mean; be kind, generous, or sympathetic. * /Have a heart, Bob, and lend me two dollars./ * /Have a heart, Mary, and help me with this lesson./ * /He didn't know if the teacher would have a heart and pass him./

[have a heart-to-heart talk] To confide in someone with great intimacy. * /Jill and her mother had a heart-to-heart talk before she decided to move in with Andrew./

[have all one's buttons] or [have all one's marbles] , To have all your understanding; be reasonable. - Usually used in the negative or conditionally. * /Mike acts sometimes as if he didn't have all his buttons./ * /He would not go to town barefooted if he had all his marbles./

[have a mind of one's own] To be independent in one's thinking and judgment. * /Tow has always had a mind of his own so there is no use trying to convince him how to vote./