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# toughen

«toughen» in Mova's school dictionary: **to make it stronger and harder to break or damage** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (toughen, toughens, toughened, toughening)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To toughen something is to make it stronger and harder to break or damage. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/toughen/#m1)

2) To toughen (up) a person is to make them stronger and better at dealing with difficult things. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/toughen/#m2)

3) To make rules or laws stricter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/toughen/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

Used in science and technology: toughened glass is heated and cooled so it is stronger and breaks into small, safer pieces. In everyday life: "toughen up" (sometimes said unkindly). In news: the government toughened the rules.

### examples

- Toughened glass is used in car windows. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/toughen/#x1)
- The hard training toughened the players. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/toughen/#x2)
- Hiking toughens your feet. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/toughen/#x3)
- The school toughened its rules on phones. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/toughen/#x4)
- Toughened glass breaks into small pieces, not sharp shards. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/toughen/#x5)
- Boots get toughened by wearing them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/toughen/#x6)

### note

Regular verb: toughened. From "tough" + -en (to make). Pronounced "TUFF-en". "Toughen up" can sound unkind if said to someone who is upset.

### In the corpora

- [Phone screens are toughened glass, treated so the surface is harder; a drop on a corner can still crack them.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/30-glass-and-pottery/17/)
- [Car side windows are toughened glass that breaks into small blunt pieces.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/technology/8-how-a-car-is-built/13/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «toughen» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/toughen/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.