backbreaking

or back-break·ing

[ bak-brey-king ]
/ ˈbækˌbreɪ kɪŋ /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR backbreaking ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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

Origin of backbreaking

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

OTHER WORDS FROM backbreaking

back·break·er, noun

Words nearby backbreaking

backblocks, backboard, backboard splint, backbone, backbreaker, backbreaking, backburn, backcast, backchat, backcloth, backcomb

Words related to backbreaking

exhausting, laborious, arduous, grueling, hard, punishing, taxing, toilsome, wearisome

Example sentences from the Web for backbreaking

  • 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

  • The combination of heat, hard, backbreaking work, and the necessity for hurry made haying a particularly fatiguing time.

    Frying Pan Farm |Elizabeth Brown Pryor

  • 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

British Dictionary definitions for backbreaking

backbreaking
/ (ˈbækˌbreɪkɪŋ) /

adjective

demanding great effort; exhausting