tough cookie

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English

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Noun

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tough cookie (plural tough cookies)

  1. (informal) A person who can endure physical or mental hardship; a hardened, strong-willed person.
    • 1973 December 10, “Ioannidis: Power in the Wings”, in Time:
      An austere, hard-lining rightist, who lives alone, Ioannidis is described by one Washington military official as "a real tough cookie."
    • 2002, Picabo Street, Dana White, Picabo: Nothing to Hide, Contemporary Books, →ISBN, page 6:
      I run to Micki and give her a hug. She was racing with a broken thumb — a tough cookie, just like me.
    • 2005 October 3, Liz Austin, “Miers had stormy tenure at Texas Lottery Commission”, in Spokesman-Review:
      "Although she's a small-framed woman, we all believed she came through the Marines and maybe ate nails for breakfast because she's one tough cookie," said Horace Taylor []
  2. (informal) A hardy, resilient animal or plant.
    • 2001, Sybille Engels, Basic Gardening: Everything You Need to Make Your Garden Grow, Silverback Books, →ISBN, page 134:
      Boxwood is a pretty tough cookie. Wind, cold, wet, exhaust fumes, and industrial pollution are of no consequence.
    • 2006 March 13, “Katrina Cat”, in Jet:
      Though its name is Cupcake, Tristan Carter's cat proved it was one tough cookie surviving on its own since Hurricane Katrina forced Carter to abandon it []
  3. (informal) Something troublesome or difficult to handle.
    • 2002, Steven Smith, editor, Encyclopedia of North American Sporting Dogs, Willow Creek Press, →ISBN, page 63:
      The pup that struggles constantly might be one tough cookie when it comes to training; []

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