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backbreaking. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
backbreaking, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
backbreaking in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
backbreaking you have here. The definition of the word
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backbreaking, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From back + breaking.
Adjective
backbreaking (comparative more backbreaking, superlative most backbreaking)
- (figuratively) Of work, very physically tiring.
1949 May and June, R. A. H. Weight, “A Short-Lived Pacific Class”, in Railway Magazine, page 196:A few keen enginemen, such as Driver Rosewarne of York, could coax good work out of them when engaged in heavy East Coast express service, but to most footplate crews, especially firemen, they were rather heartbreaking and backbreaking machines, and gradually were relegated to secondary or fast goods duties.
, The Shadow King, Canongate Books (2020), page 110:
Ahead [...] each woman is stooped beneath a backbreaking load of firewood.
Derived terms
Translations
of work, very physically tiring