That which is hard (in various senses); spec. hardship, hard times. Also: something which is hard; a hard thing, experience, etc. See also phrases 2c.

Hardship, suffering; a kind, or cause, of hardship or suffering. Obsolete.

Hardship, distress; (also) an instance of this.

Hardship, rigour.

Hardship, distress; privation, straitened circumstances. (Cf. 1g) archaic.

A specific situation of hardship or difficulty; a pressing need or want. Frequently in plural. Now rare.

Hardship; harshness or severity; an instance of this.

Something which is hard to bear. As a mass noun: hard or adverse circumstances; adversity; a state of want or privation.

Hardship, trouble; an instance of this.

Without smooth. The rough or harsh part of something; that which is unpleasant; hardship, rough treatment. Chiefly in figurative contexts.

Great hardship or distress. Also (later usually) in plural: hardships, privations.

Calamity, hardship.

figurative. In generalized sense: Privation, hardship.

(A state of) suffering, esp. as a result of poverty or oppression.