TOUGH on the hardships of learning language - daunting vocabulary journeys on LDOCE

An excursion on the LDOCE

• 3000 most frequent words in spoken and written English highlighted

How to use the LONGMAN DICTIONARY OF CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH ONLINE

LDOCE ONLINE allows you to use the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Updated Edition to look up virtually ANY word on the Internet. The online version of the dictionary contains over 207,000 words, phrases, and meanings including 7,000 references to people, places, events and organizations, such asMadonna, Milwaukee, and Manchester United. You get an instant response!

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daunt‧ing

frightening in a way that makes you feel less confident:

The trip seemed rather daunting for a young girl.

He's got the daunting task of following in Ferguson's footsteps.

the daunting prospect of asking for a loan

DIFFICULT

difficult to do: hard, tough, challenging, dauntingdifficult and needing a lot of physical effort: tough, strenuous, back-breaking, gruelling, arduous, punishingdifficult to deal with or talk about: tricky, awkward, delicate,sensitive, touchywords for describing a difficult person: awkward, tryingwords for describing difficult conditions: adverse, hostile

HARD

hard and not bending: solid, firm, stiff, rigidmeat that is too hard: toughskin that is old and hard: leathery, callousedhard and easily broken: brittle

STRONG

person: tough, muscular, wiry, powerfulthing: tough, sturdy, durable, rugged, heavy-duty, indestructible,well-made, robustcountry/organization: powerful, mighty, influential, dominantstrong

the 11 semantic contexts of TOUGH

tough comparative tougher, superlative toughest

1

difficult

difficult to do or deal with:

It was a tough race.

She' s had a tough life.

The company admitted that it had been a tough year.

Tough decisions will have to be made.

The reporters were asking a lot of tough questions.

have a tough time (of it) (=face a lot of difficult problems)

The family has had a tough time of it these last few months.

it's tough doing something

It's tough being married to a cop.

be tough on somebody (=cause problems for someone or make their life difficult)

Having to stay indoors all day is tough on a kid.

 (=a difficult decision) (=difficult to read)(=something that is difficult to persuade someone about)

when the going gets tough (the tough get going) informal (=used to say that when a situation becomes difficult, strong people take the necessary action to deal with it)

2

strong person

physically or emotionally strong and able to deal with difficult situations:

The men who work on the oil rigs are a tough bunch.

tough cookie/customer informal (=someone who is very determined to do what they want and not what other people want)

as tough as nails/as tough as old boots (=very tough)

He's as tough as nails - a good man to have on the team.

3

strong material

not easily broken or made weaker:

tough, durable plastic

a very tough, hard-wearing cloth

4

strict/firm

very strict or firm

tough on/with

My mother was very tough on my sister.

It's time to get tough with drunk drivers.

The EU is taking a tough line with the UK over this issue.

5

violent area

a tough part of a town has a lot of crime or violence

tough neighborhood/area/part of town etc

a tough area of Chicago

6

 tough!/that's tough!

spoken used when you do not have any sympathy with someone:

'I'm getting wet.' 'Tough! You should've brought your umbrella.'

She didn't tell us she was coming, so if this screws up her plans that's just tough.

7

 tough luck!

spoken

a) used when you do not have any sympathy for someone's problems:

Well, that's just their tough luck! It was their mistake.

b) British English used when you feel sympathy about something bad that has happened to someone:

You didn't get the job? Oh, tough luck!

8

 tough shit!

spoken not polite used when you do not have any sympathy for someone's problems

9

violent person

likely to behave violently and having no gentle qualities:

one of football's most notorious tough guys

tough young thugs looking for trouble

10

food

difficult to cut or eat [≠ tender]:

The meat was tough and hard to chew.

the tough outer leaves of the cabbage

11

 tough love

a way of helping someone to change their behaviour by treating them in a kind but strict way