hard put

hard put

Struggling to do or accomplish something, especially because it seems impossible. You'll be hard put to find a better guy than Bill. Come on—if we don't leave soon, we'll be hard put to get there on time. Neela's my choice. Here, look at her résumé—if you sought to find a more qualified candidate than her, you'd be hard put.

See also: hard, put

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

hard put (to do something)

 and hard pressed (to do something)

able to do something only with great difficulty. I'm hard put to come up with enough money to pay the rent. I get hard put like that about once a month.

See also: hard, put

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

hard put

Undergoing great difficulty: Under the circumstances, he was hard put to explain himself.

See also: hard, put

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.