hard put (to do something) and hard pressed (to do something)
Theme: ABILITY
able to do something only with great difficulty.
I'm hard put to come up with enough money to pay the rent.I get hard put like that about once a month.
hard-pressed
Struggling to do or accomplish something, especially because it seems impossible. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better guy than Bill.Come on—if we don't leave soon, we'll be hard-pressed to get there on time.
hard pressed
Overburdened, put upon, as in With all these bills to pay we find ourselves hard pressed. [c. 1800]