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backbreaking

or back-break·ing

[bak-brey-king]
See more synonyms for backbreaking on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. demanding great effort, endurance, etc.; exhausting: a backbreaking job.
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Origin of backbreaking

First recorded in 1780–90; back1 + break + -ing2
Related formsback·break·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

onerousstringenttoughtaxinghardpressingtroublesomeexhaustingstrictcriticalambitiousexactingtryingdifficultcrucialproblematicarduousdemandingseverestrenuous

Examples from the Web for backbreaker

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I jerked and rolled in a movement calculated to throw him to the ground face down, the motion ending in a backbreaker hold.

    The Old Martians

    Roger Phillips Graham

British Dictionary definitions for backbreaker

backbreaker

noun
  1. a wrestling hold in which a wrestler uses his knee or shoulder as a fulcrum to bend his opponent's body backwards
  2. informal an extremely arduous task
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backbreaking

adjective
  1. demanding great effort; exhausting
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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