different between hoodlum vs tough

English

Etymology

First attested in a December 1866 Daily Alta California article, which mentions "the 'Hoodlum Gang' of juvenile thieves". Several possible origins have been proposed. It may derive from a Germanic word like Swabian hudelum (“disorderly”) or Bavarian Haderlump (“ragamuffin”).

Herbert Asbury's book The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld (1933, A. A. Knopf, New York) says the word originated in San Francisco from a particular street gang's call to unemployed Irishmen to "huddle 'em" (to beat up Chinese migrants), after which San Francisco newspapers took to calling street gangs "hoodlums".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?hu?dl?m/, /?h?dl?m/
• Hyphenation: hood?lum

Noun

hoodlum (plural hoodlums)

1. A gangster; a hired thug.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:criminal
2. A rough or violent youth.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:troublemaker

Usage notes

• A short form, "hood," also exists.
• A nonstandard, jocular plural hoodla (treating the word like a Latin noun) also exists.
• The behavior of a hoodlum may be referred to as "hoodlumism."

Translations

References

Further reading

• “Frederick Bee History Project”, in (Please provide the title of the work)?^[2], accessed October 4, 2014

English

Etymology

From Middle English tough, towgh, tou, to?, from Old English t?h (“tough, tenacious, holding fast together; pliant; sticky, glutinous, clammy”), from Proto-West Germanic *t??h(?), from Proto-Germanic *tanhuz (“fitting; clinging; tenacious; tough”), from Proto-Indo-European *den?- (“to bite”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: t?f, IPA^(key): /t?f/
• Rhymes: -?f
• Homophone: tuff

Adjective

tough (comparative tougher, superlative toughest)

1. Strong and resilient; sturdy.

   The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.

2. (of food) Difficult to cut or chew.

   To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.

3. Rugged or physically hardy.

   Only a tough species will survive in the desert.

4. Stubborn.

   He had a reputation as a tough negotiator.

5. (of weather etc) Harsh or severe.
6. Rowdy or rough.

   A bunch of the tough boys from the wrong side of the tracks threatened him.

7. (of questions, etc.) Difficult or demanding.

   This is a tough crowd.

8. (material science) Undergoing plastic deformation before breaking.

Derived terms

Translations

Interjection

tough

1. (slang) Used to indicate lack of sympathy

   If you don't like it, tough!

Translations

Noun

tough (plural toughs)

1. A person who obtains things by force; a thug or bully.

Translations

Verb

tough (third-person singular simple present toughs, present participle toughing, simple past and past participle toughed)

1. To endure.
2. To toughen.

Derived terms

• tough out

Translations

Anagrams

• ought

German

Etymology

From English tough; see also German taff.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taf/

Adjective

tough (comparative tougher, superlative am toughsten or am toughesten)

1. (slang) Alternative form of taff (“tough; robust; assertive and not overly sensitive”)

Declension

declension with am toughsten

declension with am toughesten

Further reading

• “tough” in Duden online

Middle English

Noun

tough

1. Alternative form of tow