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break the back of

break the back of
B b

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [breyk stressed th ee bak uhv, ov]
    • /breɪk stressed ði bæk ʌv, ɒv/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [breyk stressed th ee bak uhv, ov]
    • /breɪk stressed ði bæk ʌv, ɒv/

Definitions of break the back of words

  • noun break the back of to complete the greatest or hardest part of (a task) 3
  • noun break the back of the rear part of the human body, extending from the neck to the lower end of the spine. 1
  • noun break the back of the part of the body of animals corresponding to the human back. 1
  • noun break the back of the rear portion of any part of the body: the back of the head. 1
  • noun break the back of the whole body, with reference to clothing: the clothes on his back. 1
  • noun break the back of ability for labor; effort; endurance: He put his back into the task. 1
See all 56 definitions of break the back of

Information block about the term

Origin of break the back of

First appearance:

before 1000
One of the 6% oldest English words
before 1000; Middle English bak, Old English bæc back of the body; cognate with Old Frisian bek, Old Saxon, Old Norse bak; perhaps < Indo-European *bhogo- bending; cf. bacon

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Break the back of

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Break the back of

break the back of popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 100% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

break the back of usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

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