bone-crushing

[bohn-kruhsh-ing]

adjective

1. powerful or constricting enough to crush one's bones.

   a bone-crushing handshake.

2. extremely painful, troublesome, costly, etc..

   a bone-crushing mortgage.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bone-crushing¹

First recorded in 1670–80

Example Sentences

In the real world, no human could survive the unimaginable heat and bone-crushing pressure, even if there were a vehicle capable of tunneling to the core, Vidale said.

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Rather than the deep bone-crushing jaws of an adult T. rex, the lower jaw of the reservoir specimen looked more slender.

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These men and women are very good at what they do, and their sport - with all its trickery and speed and none of the bone-crushing, head-jarring violence of the real thing - certainly has its appeal.

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Players quickly bonded with RJ, who stands 6-foot-3 and grins while giving monster hugs and bone-crushing handshakes.

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It included Conor Sheary, who played on the top line and finished with a plus-3 rating; Aliaksei Protas, who moved to center with Dowd out; Beck Malenstyn, who was called up from the team’s American League Hockey League affiliate in Hershey, Pa., last week and delivered several bone-crushing checks.

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