toughen up

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.

City Section teams continue to struggle against Southern Section opponents in nonleague games, but many are using the strategy Birmingham has used for years to toughen up before league play begins.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 8, 2025

The union boss said he supported proposals to scrap short sentences for some offenders and toughen up community orders supervised by probation officers.

From BBC • May 9, 2025

Last year a tribunal ruled low-interest shareholder loans should not be excluded from the scope of the APTs, and changes made to toughen up the regulations also breached competition law.

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2025

It said low-interest shareholder loans should not be excluded from the scope of the rules, and that changes made in February to toughen up the regulations also breached competition law.

From BBC • Nov. 22, 2024

The other option is to toughen up, put up this facade.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah