Aggressive, ruthless tactics used in business or politics; also refers to a type of baseball made of hard material unlike a soft baseball.
Compound of 'hard' (Old English 'heard') and 'ball' (Middle English, from Old Norse 'bollr'). The metaphorical sense—meaning 'aggressive tactics'—became popular in American English in the mid-20th century, derived from the baseball term.
The phrase 'playing hardball' became political slang during the Kennedy administration, when journalists covered politics with tough questions—the metaphor worked because baseball was America's obsession, so everyone instantly understood that 'hard' + 'ball' = something dangerous and unforgiving.
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