backbreaking

Or back-break·ing

[bak-brey-king]

adjective

1. demanding great effort, endurance, etc.; exhausting.

   a backbreaking job.

backbreaking

/ ˈbækˌbreɪkɪŋ /

adjective

1. demanding great effort; exhausting

Other Word Forms

• backbreaker noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of backbreaking¹

First recorded in 1780–90; back ¹ + break + -ing ²

Example Sentences

Residents have now started the backbreaking task of cleaning away the thick layer of mud, and picking through the wreckage for anything that can be used.

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He also cut the hay at the end of summer, initially trying with a scythe - Poldark-style - but ultimately finding a small tractor does the trick in a less backbreaking way.

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But backbreaking mistakes continued to mar the Trojans on both sides of the ball.

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Proaño said the idea that “backbreaking work in some of the worst conditions” could be replaced by automation or by people receiving Medicaid is simply not a realistic plan.

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From quarry workers to weavers, welders to tailors, the pictures highlight the diverse, backbreaking work undertaken by the estimated 400 million labourers in India.

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Related Words

• arduous 
• exhausting 
• grueling 
• laborious