hardness

plural hardnesses · alternative obsolete hardnesse

1. countableuncountableThe quality of being hard.

   Who can number the cloudes in wiſedom? or who can ſtay the bottles of heauen, / When the duſt groweeh^([sic – meaning groweth]) into hardneſſe and the clods cleaue faſt together?

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 38:37–38

2. countableuncountableAn instance of this quality; hardship.
3. countableuncountablechemistryThe quantity of calcium carbonate dissolved in water, usually expressed in parts per million (ppm).
4. countableuncountableThe resistance to scratching, cutting, indentation or abrasion of a metal or other solid material.
5. countableuncountablenatural sciencesThe penetrating ability of electromagnetic radiation, such as x-rays; generally, the shorter the wavelength, the harder and more penetrating the radiation.
6. countableuncountableThe measure of resistance to damage of a facility, equipment, installation, or telecommunications infrastructure when subjected to attack.
7. countableengineeringA measure of how hard a material is.

   The hardness of the material was high.

   1 more example

   “This material has a specific hardness and is chemically very stable. It forms naturally from calcium alone, but bacteria accelerate the transformation into calcium carbonate,” explains Alejandro Montesinos, head of the Decarbonization, Climate Change, and Circular Economy Research Group at Tec de Monterrey and a member of the Institute of Advanced Materials and Sustainable Manufacturing.

   2024 August 6, Ricardo Treviño, “Self-Healing Concrete Help Buildings Seal Themselves”, in TecScience, archived from the original on 19 Jan 2025