backbreaker

noun

back·​break·​er ˈbak-ˌbrā-kər 

variants or back-breaker

plural backbreakers or back-breakers

1

a

: a backbreaking task

b

: an utterly disheartening and demoralizing occurrence or outcome

One-run losses are always tough to stomach; one-run losses by a team that had three runners cut down at the plate are backbreakers.

—Sports Illustrated, 4 Sept. 2000

2

: a refinery worker who breaks crust formed on the surface of the electrolytic bath in aluminum-reduction pots to free anode for lowering or raising during tapping

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1902, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Rhymes for backbreaker

• blackacre
• caretaker
• clockmaker
• dressmaker
• filmmaker
• homemaker
• icebreaker
• lawmaker
• matchmaker
• pacemaker
• partaker
• peacemaker