"hardening" in the noun sense
1. hardening
abnormal hardening or thickening of tissue
2. hardening, solidifying, solidification, set, curing
the process of becoming hard or solid by cooling or drying or crystallization
"the hardening of concrete"
"he tested the set of the glue"
3. hardening
the act of making something harder (firmer or tighter or more compact)
"hardening" in the verb sense
1. harden, indurate
become hard or harder
"The wax hardened"
2. harden, indurate
make hard or harder
"The cold hardened the butter"
3. temper, harden
harden by reheating and cooling in oil
"temper steel"
4. season, harden
make fit
"This trip will season even the hardiest traveller"
5. inure, harden, indurate
cause to accept or become hardened to habituate
"He was inured to the cold"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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