Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of ball-breaker.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna job or situation that is demanding and arduous and punishing
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Yiddishבעל־הביתטע“mistress, lady of the house”
- Englishball-buster
Unknown. By surface analysis, ball + buster. Possibly derived from Yiddish בעל־הביתטע (baleboste, “mistress, lady of the house”), in which case synonyms like ball-breaker and ball-wracker may be secondary derivations. See also Beelzebub for connotations of the same supposed first element. Any deverbal formation conflated with back-breaking may have reinforced the native development.
More words from Yiddish
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
ball-buster. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ball-buster
“ball-buster.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ball-buster. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ball-buster,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ball-buster.
Source: ball-buster on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.