Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

break the back of

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.12 in modern English

Syllables: break the back- of
IPA

34

Scrabble Score

14

Letters

2

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To complete the greater part of (a project) or solve the most critical part of (a problem).

verb

To overburden (a person, group, or organization).

verb

Example Sentences

"I've broken the back of painting the shed – I'll finish it after lunch."
"[…] broke the back of the housing problem in this country ."
"I think we will find, or I predict that we will find, that during the course of this year we will break the back of the energy crisis."
"I plan to grab my chance to take a break by trying to break the back of all the tasks that have flown through the ether into my inbox during the course of the morning."
"You will have heard of the three kathia system. It broke the back of the farmers."
"And it's about helping people provide for their workers, but doing it—I;m talking about health care, training—gut doing it in a way that just doesn't break the back of the small business that's struggling anyway and make them lay off workers in order to accommodate some Federal mandate from Washington, DC."

Inflected Forms

breaks the back of (present, singular) breaking the back of (participle, present) broke the back of (past) broken the back of (participle, past)

Phrases

break someone's back

Frequently Paired Words

break someone's back

Questions

What does break the back of mean?: To complete the greater part of (a project) or solve the most critical part of (a problem).

How to pronounce break the back of

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