hard tack

A sailor eats a piece of hard tack on the ship's deck.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A type of hard, dry biscuit or cracker: "hard tack" refers to a simple, durable biscuit made from flour and water, often used as a staple food for sailors and soldiers historically due to its long shelf life.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The sailors survived on hard tack and salted meat during the long voyage. (A basic, dry biscuit used as emergency rations.)
  • Hard tack was notorious for being so tough that it had to be soaked in water or coffee before eating. (A food item requiring softening to be edible.)

Advanced Usage

• "to break hard tack": to soften or prepare hard tack for consumption, often by soaking or pounding.
  • The soldiers would break hard tack by hammering it into smaller pieces before adding it to their broth. (To process the hard biscuit for easier eating.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hardtack (n): alternate spelling of hard tack, equally common in historical contexts.
  • The museum displayed a piece of hardtack from the Civil War era. (A preserved sample of this biscuit.)

Synonyms

• Ship's biscuit: a synonym for hard tack, emphasizing its use on ships.
• Sea biscuit: another term for the same dry cracker, used in naval contexts.

Related Idioms

• "Tough as hard tack": an idiom meaning extremely hard or difficult to break.
  • This old bread is tough as hard tack; I can barely bite into it. (Extremely hard, like the biscuit.)