hard put

adjective

facing or experiencing financial trouble or difficulty (Freq. 1)

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distressed companies need loans and technical advice

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financially hard-pressed Mexican hotels are lowering their prices

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we were hard put to meet the mortgage payment

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found themselves in a bad way financially

• Syn: ↑distressed, ↑hard-pressed, ↑in a bad way

• Similar to: ↑troubled

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adjective

Etymology: put from past participle of put, v.

: faced with difficulty or perplexity : being in a quandary : barely or hardly able

was hard put to find a satisfactory answer

were hard put to meet mortgage payments — Current Biography

— often used in the phrase hard put to it

hard put to it to account for the differences between the ancient Chinese and the ancient Egyptians — Bertrand Russell

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adj [more \hard put; most \hard put]

: ↑hard-pressed — used to say that it is difficult to do something;

— followed by to + verb

He was hard put to describe their musical style. [=it was difficult for him to describe their musical style]

I would be hard put to find an explanation.

— sometimes used in the phrase hard put to it

She was hard put to it to say what the story was about. [=she found it hard to say what the story was about]