backbreaking

or back-break·ing

[ bak-brey-king ]

/ ˈbækˌbreɪ kɪŋ /

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See synonyms for: backbreaking / backbreaker on Thesaurus.com

adjective

demanding great effort, endurance, etc.; exhausting: a backbreaking job.

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Origin of backbreaking

First recorded in 1780–90; back¹ + break + -ing²

OTHER WORDS FROM backbreaking

backbreaker, noun

Words nearby backbreaking

backboard, backboard splint, back boiler, backbone, backbreaker, backbreaking, backburn, back burner, back burner, on a, backcast, back catalogue

How to use backbreaking in a sentence

Signs of the toxic and backbreaking work the enslaved had to do at the primitive ironmaking site emerged.
Faces of the dead emerge from lost African American graveyard|Michael Ruane|July 9, 2021|Washington Post
Advocates for robotic farming tout increased automation as a step toward improving efficiency while freeing people from monotonous, backbreaking tasks that few laborers want to do.
Farmers have more mouths to feed. Bring in the robots.|Dalvin Brown|April 22, 2021|Washington Post
Today, instead of men performing backbreaking work on creaking machinery, unkempt grass bends in the light breeze.
The Grape King from Shogunate Japan|Debra A. Klein|April 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
According to political lore, patriot-Americans do the backbreaking work that keeps the country humming.
A 'Black President' Is of No Value to America|Rich Benjamin|November 4, 2008|DAILY BEAST

It will take some backbreaking investigation to get the whole story, because the files show nothing on any of them.
The Electronic Mind Reader|John Blaine
All they had to look forward to from the D'zertanoj was backbreaking labor and an early death.
The Ethical Engineer|Henry Maxwell Dempsey
The combination of heat, hard, backbreaking work, and the necessity for hurry made haying a particularly fatiguing time.
Frying Pan Farm|Elizabeth Brown Pryor

British Dictionary definitions for backbreaking

backbreaking

/ (ˈbækˌbreɪkɪŋ) /

adjective

demanding great effort; exhausting

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

backbreaking

or back-break·ing

Origin of backbreaking

OTHER WORDS FROM backbreaking

Words nearby backbreaking

Words related to backbreaking

How to use backbreaking in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for backbreaking