1
general::
Phrase(s): hard put (to do something) [and] hard pressed (to do something)
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.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
Find something very difficult, as in The show was so bad that I was hard put to conceal my dismay, or Manufacturers will be hard put to meet the new standards. [c. 1700]
American Heritage Idioms