tough nut to crack

English

Alternative forms

• tougher nut to crack, toughest nut to crack, difficult nut to crack, hard nut to crack

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

tough nut to crack (plural tough nuts to crack)

1. (idiomatic) A problem that is challenging to solve.
2. (idiomatic, by extension) A situation, person, group, etc. which is difficult to deal with.
3. (idiomatic) A place, opportunity, etc. to which it is difficult to gain entry.
4. An amount that is difficult to finance.

Usage notes

• Tough/er/est nut to crack is by far the most common form in COCA (US), about equal to hard/er/est nut to crack at BNC (UK).

Translations

challenging problem to solve

• Finnish: kova pähkinä purtavaksi
• German: harte Nuss
• Italian: gatta da pelare f
• Russian: кре́пкий оре́шек (ru) m (krépkij oréšek)
• Spanish: hueso duro de roer m
• Swedish: svår nöt att knäcka c