'Hard and fast' definitions:

Definition of 'Hard and fast'

From: GCIDE
  • Fast \Fast\, a. [Compar. Faster; superl. Fastest.] [OE., firm, strong, not loose, AS. f[ae]st; akin to OS. fast, D. vast, OHG. fasti, festi, G. fest, Icel. fastr, Sw. & Dan. fast, and perh. to E. fetter. The sense swift comes from the idea of keeping close to what is pursued; a Scandinavian use. Cf. Fast, adv., Fast, v., Avast.]
  • 1. Firmly fixed; closely adhering; made firm; not loose, unstable, or easily moved; immovable; as, to make fast the door. [1913 Webster]
  • There is an order that keeps things fast. --Burke. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong. [1913 Webster]
  • Outlaws . . . lurking in woods and fast places. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Firm in adherence; steadfast; not easily separated or alienated; faithful; as, a fast friend. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Permanent; not liable to fade by exposure to air or by washing; durable; lasting; as, fast colors. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Tenacious; retentive. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Not easily disturbed or broken; deep; sound. [1913 Webster]
  • All this while in a most fast sleep. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. Moving rapidly; quick in mition; rapid; swift; as, a fast horse. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. Given to pleasure seeking; disregardful of restraint; reckless; wild; dissipated; dissolute; as, a fast man; a fast liver. --Thackeray. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. In such a condition, as to resilience, etc., as to make possible unusual rapidity of play or action; as, a fast racket, or tennis court; a fast track; a fast billiard table, etc. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  • Fast and loose, now cohering, now disjoined; inconstant, esp. in the phrases to play at fast and loose, to play fast and loose, to act with giddy or reckless inconstancy or in a tricky manner; to say one thing and do another. "Play fast and loose with faith." --Shak.
  • Fast and loose pulleys (Mach.), two pulleys placed side by side on a revolving shaft, which is driven from another shaft by a band, and arranged to disengage and re["e]ngage the machinery driven thereby. When the machinery is to be stopped, the band is transferred from the pulley fixed to the shaft to the pulley which revolves freely upon it, and vice versa.
  • Hard and fast (Naut.), so completely aground as to be immovable.
  • To make fast (Naut.), to make secure; to fasten firmly, as a vessel, a rope, or a door. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Hard and fast'

From: GCIDE
  • Hard \Hard\ (h[aum]rd), a. [Compar. Harder (-[~e]r); superl. Hardest.] [OE. hard, heard, AS. heard; akin to OS. & D. hard, G. hart, OHG. herti, harti, Icel. har[eth]r, Dan. haard, Sw. h[*a]rd, Goth. hardus, Gr. kraty`s strong, ka`rtos, kra`tos, strength, and also to E. -ard, as in coward, drunkard, -crat, -cracy in autocrat, democracy; cf. Skr. kratu strength, k[.r] to do, make. Cf. Hardy.]
  • 1. Not easily penetrated, cut, or separated into parts; not yielding to pressure; firm; solid; compact; -- applied to material bodies, and opposed to soft; as, hard wood; hard flesh; a hard apple. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Difficult, mentally or judicially; not easily apprehended, decided, or resolved; as a hard problem. [1913 Webster]
  • The hard causes they brought unto Moses. --Ex. xviii. 26. [1913 Webster]
  • In which are some things hard to be understood. --2 Peter iii. 16. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Difficult to accomplish; full of obstacles; laborious; fatiguing; arduous; as, a hard task; a disease hard to cure. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Difficult to resist or control; powerful. [1913 Webster]
  • The stag was too hard for the horse. --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster]
  • A power which will be always too hard for them. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Difficult to bear or endure; not easy to put up with or consent to; hence, severe; rigorous; oppressive; distressing; unjust; grasping; as, a hard lot; hard times; hard fare; a hard winter; hard conditions or terms. [1913 Webster]
  • I never could drive a hard bargain. --Burke. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Difficult to please or influence; stern; unyielding; obdurate; unsympathetic; unfeeling; cruel; as, a hard master; a hard heart; hard words; a hard character. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. Not easy or agreeable to the taste; harsh; stiff; rigid; ungraceful; repelling; as, a hard style. [1913 Webster]
  • Figures harder than even the marble itself. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. Rough; acid; sour, as liquors; as, hard cider. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. (Pron.) Abrupt or explosive in utterance; not aspirated, sibilated, or pronounced with a gradual change of the organs from one position to another; -- said of certain consonants, as c in came, and g in go, as distinguished from the same letters in center, general, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. Wanting softness or smoothness of utterance; harsh; as, a hard tone. [1913 Webster]
  • 11. (Painting) (a) Rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures; formal; lacking grace of composition. (b) Having disagreeable and abrupt contrasts in the coloring or light and shade. [1913 Webster]
  • Hard cancer, Hard case, etc. See under Cancer, Case, etc.
  • Hard clam, or Hard-shelled clam (Zool.), the quahog.
  • Hard coal, anthracite, as distinguished from {bituminous coal} (soft coal).
  • Hard and fast. (Naut.) See under Fast.
  • Hard finish (Arch.), a smooth finishing coat of hard fine plaster applied to the surface of rough plastering.
  • Hard lines, hardship; difficult conditions.
  • Hard money, coin or specie, as distinguished from paper money.
  • Hard oyster (Zool.), the northern native oyster. [Local, U. S.]
  • Hard pan, the hard stratum of earth lying beneath the soil; hence, figuratively, the firm, substantial, fundamental part or quality of anything; as, the hard pan of character, of a matter in dispute, etc. See Pan.
  • Hard rubber. See under Rubber.
  • Hard solder. See under Solder.
  • Hard water, water, which contains lime or some mineral substance rendering it unfit for washing. See Hardness, 3.
  • Hard wood, wood of a solid or hard texture; as walnut, oak, ash, box, and the like, in distinction from pine, poplar, hemlock, etc.
  • In hard condition, in excellent condition for racing; having firm muscles; -- said of race horses.
  • Syn: Solid; arduous; powerful; trying; unyielding; stubborn; stern; flinty; unfeeling; harsh; difficult; severe; obdurate; rigid. See Solid, and Arduous. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'hard and fast'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Hard and fast'