hard knocks
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Most of us learn this by about third grade, when parents and hard knocks teach us how to figure out whom you can trust, and who will eat you for lunch.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2025
"Everyone loved her. I grew up with Tina Turner and she was a great woman to me, with a lot of sorrow too due to life's hard knocks but absolutely someone we could admire."
From Reuters • May 25, 2023
Australian rugby league in the early 1990s was an unforgiving school of hard knocks, tough men and scant sympathy.
From BBC • Feb. 2, 2023
Brown agreed, saying, “Through the school of hard knocks, we’re better at managing through it.”
From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2022
Shasta cried only a very little; he was used to hard knocks.
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
