tough nut

He tries this on very much with me, but I flatter myself he has got a tough nut to crack.

It is just as if the boys were paired off, a “goody-goody” and a “tough nut” together.

I expect Verena, for all she is so soft and fair, is a tough nut to crack; but you can bring Briar and Patty.

Bill he knew already fairly well as a tough nut to crack, game to the core, and staunch to his friends.

He was, in fact, a tough nut, and a fellow who took any kind of risks for the sake of putting through a job.

Drank rum by the hogshead, pounded his wife till she left him, and was a tough nut gin'rally.

After the first rush, it was obvious to the Harn that the cabin was going to be a tough nut to crack.

Even the larger digitals would find this a tough nut to crack, but our baby is a whiz at curves, see?

You're a tough nut to talk about sleep when you've killed the best man in Nevada County.

It seemed a tough nut to crack, this tripartite household arrangement.