Hardness
Hard·ness
Hardness
n.
-
The quality or state of being hard, literally or figuratively.
The habit of authority also had given his manners some peremptory hardness.
- The cohesion of the particles on the surface of a body, determined by its capacity to scratch another, or be itself scratched; -- measured among minerals on a scale of which diamond and talc form the extremes. (Min.)
- The peculiar quality exhibited by water which has mineral salts dissolved in it. Such water forms an insoluble compound with soap, and is hence unfit for washing purposes. (Chem.)