Meaning of make hard work of | Babel Free

Definitions

1. To do (something) in a way that makes it more difficult than it needs to be.
   idiomatic
2. To struggle to accomplish something.
   idiomatic

Examples

“The motion is from the shoulder rather than from the elbow, moving the whole arm, and there is no need to make hard work of it.”

“I made hard work of a very easy task .”

“Don't make hard work of it . An instrument in good condition is easy to blow when properly played.”

“Unfortunately, Versteegh made hard work of his task once again by using the rather difficult manuscript from Cairo, Dār al-kutub 242 (Versteegh describes this manuscript on p. 156 as "very hard to read, and we have managed to analyze only parts of it.").”

“For arithmetic to-day, as the pupils made hard work of the examples yesterday, I changed only the numbers.”

“While we had made hard work of defeating Sheffield United in our FA Cup semifinal, Spurs were breezing past Burnley 3–0 in the other tie.”

“As Wright opened the door he made hard work of it, rattling the key in the lock.”

“England made hard work of the win against a stubborn and well-organised Iceland but were the better and more positive side.”

CEFR level