adj. (colloquial).—Difficult to deal with; wilful; obstinate. Also coarse in speech. [From the stable.]
1686. D’URFEY, A Commonwealth of Women, i., 1. [Speaking of a girl.] I hate your young Wechees, Skitish Colts—they are so HARD MOUTH’D, there’s no dealing with ’em.
1704. SWIFT, Tale of a Tub, Sect. ix. I myself, the author of these momentous truths, am a person, whose imaginations are HARD-MOUTHED, and exceedingly disposed to run away with his reason.
1704. SWIFT, On the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit, Sect. ii., par. 9. The flesh … when it comes to the turn of being bearer, is wonderfully headstrong and HARD-MOUTHED.
