-prep. 3. regarding, in or with regard to, as regards, anent, respecting, with respect to, with reference to; in reference to, referring to, concerning, about, dealing with; relating to, in relation to, relative to, connected or associated with, touchstone, n. 1. norm, standard, criterion; measure, gauge, scale, yardstick; reference point, point of reference, bench mark; acid test, proof, test, try-out, trial, Obs. assay; guideline, rule of thumb, guide, Eccles. formulary.
2. ideal, exemplar, example, paradigm; model, pattern, prototype, archetype, touchy, adj. 1. testy, irritable, tetchy, snappish, petulant, irascible; peevish, huffish, waspish, raspy, peppery, fretful; huffy, edgy, on edge; grumpy, cranky, grouchy, snarling, crotchety, churlish, bearish; gruff, cantankerous, impatient, crabby; splenetic, choleric, dyspeptic, moody, temperamental, out of sorts; high-strung, hot-tempered, hot-blooded, quick-tempered; cross, crusty, crabbed, ill-tempered, ill-humored; fractious, quarrelsome, querulous, contentious, resentful, disputatious, captious; currish, shrewish, vixenish; cynical, perverse, spiteful.
2. thin-skinned, sensitive, oversensitive, hypersensitive, supersensitive, easily offended.
3. precarious, risky, riskful, full of risk, chancy, Brit. Inf. dicy, hazardous; ticklish, tricky, delicate, Dial, kittle; touch-and-go, uncertain, unsure, unpredictable, unsafe, unsound, unstable, unsteady, shaky, unsecure. tough, adj. 1. strong, durable, firm, hard, rigid, solid; resisting, resistant, lasting, enduring; substantial, sound, well-built.
2. leathery, chewy, gristly, coriaceous; stringy, cartilaginous, fibrous, sinewy, wiry, ropy.
3. brawny, muscular, musclebound, athletic, strapping, thickset, burly; robust, vigorous, virile, lusty, manly; powerful, Literary, puissant, herculean, Atlan-tean.
4. sturdy, hardy, hearty, stout, seasoned; rugged, stalwart, rigorous, Inf. hard as nails; doughty, plucky, mettlesome, Inf. gritty, intrepid, Inf. nervy.
5. unyielding, obdurate, obstinate, stubborn, inflexible, mulish; rigid, stiff-necked, stony, stern, passionless, unfeeling; unsentimental, unsympathetic, hard-boiled, SI. hard-nosed, two-fisted; callous, icy, cold, cool.
6. hard, difficult, formidable, unfathomable, insoluble; arduous, laborious, uphill, exacting; troublesome, irksome, thorny, knotty, crabbed; baffling, trying, puzzling, ticklish; perplexing, involved, intricate, complicated.
7. vigorous, severe, violent, intense, keen, acute; grave, serious, dire, dreadful; furious, ferocious, fierce, wild, heavy, woolly, rigorous, raging, frantic, frenzied.
8. U.S. rough, vicious, rowdyish; unruly, rambunctious, disorderly, refractory; boisterous, riotous, noisy, uproarious.
-n. 9. U.S. ruffian, rowdy, roughneck, Inf. hard guy, Inf. tough guy; Inf. toughie, bully, animal, gorilla; hoodlum, thug, hooligan, toughen, v. harden, firm, caseharden, indurate; temper, anneal, steel, nerve; stiffen, strengthen, tighten, rigidify; brace, buttress, shore up, Inf. beef up; fortify, reinforce, gird. toupee, n. wig, periwig, peruke, hairpiece, SI. rug, SI. carpet; false hair, Brit. Inf. jasey, merkin. tour, n. 1. trip, excursion, run, junket, pleasure trip, sightseeing trip; journey, voyage, sail, passage,