hard yards

Examples of hard yards in a sentence

• Those clever women at the frontier of fashion do all the hard yards for us, every month, by attending the shows in London, Paris and New York.2010, Kelly Doust, A Life in Frocks, Sydney: Murdoch Books, →ISBN, page 129:
• In tough conditions, with no room for complacency, the campaign will need to slog out the hard yards, give it 110% and leave it all on the field.2017 August 22, Peter Lewis, “In a tough campaign the marriage equality team faces hard yards ahead”, in The Guardian:
• The couple had already put in the hard yards: Fred started out in '60s freakbeat combos The Weeds and Lollipop Shoppe, with Toody joining him in early '80s punk trio The Rats.2021 December, Jon Dale, “Dead Moon fever!”, in Uncut, →ISSN, page 8:

Synonyms of hard yards

• heavy lifting

Origin of hard yards

A sporting analogy referring to the game of rugby football, where making progress on the field, in measurements of yards, may lead to accomplishment and victory. Alternatively derived from sailing, when furling or unfurling the canvas from certain (perhaps higher) spars was both dangerous and difficult.

Questions about hard yards

What does hard yards mean?

Hard yards means the key effort in completing a difficult task.

How do you use hard yards in a sentence?

Those clever women at the frontier of fashion do all the hard yards for us, every month, by attending the shows in London, Paris and New York.

What part of speech is hard yards?

Hard yards is a noun.