- (of an egg) boiled in the shell long enough for the yolk and white to solidify.
- tough; unsentimental: a hard-boiled vice-squad detective.
- marked by a direct, clear-headed approach; realistic: a hard-boiled appraisal of the foreign situation.
- (of detective fiction) written in a laconic, dispassionate, often ironic style for a realistic, unsentimental effect.
- (of an egg) boiled until the yolk and white are solid
- informal
- tough, realistic
- cynical
