Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

harden up

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.52 in modern English

Syllables
hard-en up
IPA
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To tighten up a sailboat's sheets in order to prevent luffing.

British usage

verb

To become or make (something, someone) hard, either literally or figuratively.

Informal; Transitive verb

Usage

Inflected Forms

Questions

What does harden up mean?
To tighten up a sailboat's sheets in order to prevent luffing.

How to pronounce harden up

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “harden up”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “harden up”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “harden up” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.