ˈhardhack U.S.
[f. hard a. + (?) hack v.]
A low shrub, Spiræa tomentosa, common in New England, having dense terminal panicles of rose-coloured or white flowers.
| 1832 W. D. Williamson Hist. State Maine I. 116 The Hardhack, a barren bush, usually chooses poor cold ground for its residence and growth. 1851 S. Judd Margaret ii. i. (Ward) 198 A bunch of the white hardhack, a cream-like flower, innerly blushing. 1866 Lowell Biglow P. Introd. Poems 1890 II. 203 Our narrow New England lanes..where no better flowers were to be gathered than goldenrod and hardhack. 1880 Harper's Mag. Dec. 85 Them mulleins an' hardhacks in the buryin'-ground. 1968 E. R. Buckler Ox Bells & Fireflies vi. 95 The hardhacks, with roots like the roots of wisdom teeth, to be kept back from the edges of the cleared land. |