John was hard put to find a good excuse for his lateness in coming to school.
The scouts found themselves hard put to it to find the way home.
Словарь американских идиом. — СПб., Изд-во "Лань". Оригинал: A.Маккей, М.Т.Боткер, Дж.И.Гейтс. 1997.
hard put to — (do something) finding something difficult to do. None of the family I was staying with spoke English and I was hard put to recall my high school French. You d be hard put to find any other college students more deserving of the award … New idioms dictionary
hard put to it — In dire straits or difficulty • • • Main Entry: ↑hard … Useful english dictionary
hard put — adjective facing or experiencing financial trouble or difficulty (Freq. 1) distressed companies need loans and technical advice financially hard pressed Mexican hotels are lowering their prices we were hard put to meet the mortgage payment found… … Useful english dictionary
hard put — or[hard put to it] {adj.} In a difficult position; faced with difficulty; barely able. * /John was hard put to find a good excuse for his lateness in coming to school./ * /The scouts found themselves hard put to it to find the way home./ … Dictionary of American idioms
hard put — or[hard put to it] {adj.} In a difficult position; faced with difficulty; barely able. * /John was hard put to find a good excuse for his lateness in coming to school./ * /The scouts found themselves hard put to it to find the way home./ … Dictionary of American idioms
hard put — adj. facing difficulties hard put to + inf. (she was hard put to pay her rent) … Combinatory dictionary
hard\ put\ to\ it — adj In a difficult position; faced with difficulty; barely able. John was hard put to find a good excuse for his lateness in coming to school. The scouts found themselves hard put to it to find the way home … Словарь американских идиом
hard put — adjective Date: 1893 barely able ; faced with difficulty or perplexity < was hard put to find an explanation > … New Collegiate Dictionary
hard put — adjective To be in a situation that is difficult to resolve. I know what it means, but would be hard put to define it … Wiktionary
hard put — unable to answer easily, stump me He was hard put to answer the questions on cold fission … English idioms
