tough nut to crack

English

Alternative forms

tougher nut to crack, toughest nut to crack, difficult nut to crack, hard nut to crack

Noun

tough nut to crack (plural tough nuts to crack)

(idiomatic) A problem that is challenging to solve.
(idiomatic, by extension) A situation, person, group, etc. which is difficult to deal with.
(idiomatic) A place, opportunity, etc. to which it is difficult to gain entry.
An amount that is difficult to finance.

Usage notes

Tough/er/est nut to crack is by far the most common form in COCA (US), about equal to hard/er/est nut to crack at BNC (UK).

Translations

challenging problem to solve

Finnish: kova pähkinä purtavaksi
German: eine harte Nuss zu knacken haben (de)
Italian: gatta da pelare f

Russian: кре́пкий оре́шек (ru) m (krépkij oréšek)
Spanish: hueso duro de roer m

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.