caseharden
Metallurgy. to make the outside surface of (an alloy having an iron base) hard by carburizing and heat treatment, leaving the interior tough and ductile.
to harden in spirit so as to render insensible or insensitive to external impressions or influences; make callous.
Origin of caseharden
1Words Nearby caseharden
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use caseharden in a sentence
I have a peculiar kind of steel which I cannot harden by fire and water, neither will it caseharden by prussiate of potash.
British Dictionary definitions for case-harden
metallurgy to form a hard surface layer of high carbon content on (a steel component) by heating in a carburizing environment with subsequent quenching or heat treatment
to harden the spirit or disposition of; make callous: experience had case-hardened the judge
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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