case-hardened

adjective

Of metal: harder at its surface, due to a case hardening process.

Similar
hardenedhard-boiledhard
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Meanings

adjective
  1. engineeringOf metal: harder at its surface, due to a case hardening process.
  2. broadlyfigurativelyHardened by experience.

    Even a case-hardened monorailist must blench at the thought of the storm such a proposition would create.

    1964 July, “The mythology of monorails”, in Modern Railways, page 57

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveused of persons; emotionally hardened

Similar
hardenedhard-boiledhard
Also see
hardhard-boiledhardened

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry
APA

case-hardened. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/case-hardened

MLA

“case-hardened.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/case-hardened. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “case-hardened,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/case-hardened.

Source: case-hardened on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.