hard-pressed

(Redirected from hard pressed)
See also: hardpressed

English edit

Alternative forms edit

Pronunciation edit

  • (file)

Adjective edit

hard-pressed (comparative more hard-pressed, superlative most hard-pressed)

  1. (idiomatic, usually with to-infinitive) Barely able. Having difficulty doing something.
    Although they are still available, I think we would be hard-pressed to find one on short notice.
    • 1939 September, D. S. Barrie, “The Railways of South Wales”, in Railway Magazine, page 157:
      From the 'fifties onwards the development of the South Wales & Monmouthshire coalfield went on at terrific speed, and railway construction was hard pressed to keep pace with it.
    • 1962 December, “Beyond the Channel: Switzerland: Federal Railways' progress”, in Modern Railways, page 417:
      These units will replace the 2,800 h.p. motor coaches on the fast and heavy Zurich-Berne-Lausanne-Geneva push-and-pull expresses, which in their turn have been relieving the hard-pressed 2,520 h.p. Bo-Bo locomotives of the Re 4/4 type.
  2. (idiomatic) Experiencing financial difficulty or difficulty in surviving.
    The earthquake left the residents hard-pressed.
    • 2022 April 6, “Network News: Spring Statement: Sunak accused of making rail less competitive”, in RAIL, number 954, page 8:
      Speaking to Parliament on March 23, Sunak announced a temporary cut in fuel duty of 5p per litre to hard-pressed motorists who have faced spiralling prices for diesel and petrol in recent weeks.

Synonyms edit

Translations edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.