break one's back

verb

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see break, back.

Similar
slavebuckle downknuckle down
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Meanings

verbbreak one's back (third-person singular simple present breaks one's back, present participle breaking one's back, simple past broke one's back, past participle broken one's back)

present singular third person breaks one's back · participle present breaking one's back · past broke one's back · participle past broken one's back

  1. alternativeidiomaticAlternative form of break the back of (overburden), when applied to oneself.

    See, it's not that I'm a disagreeable person. I just have a motto that I won't break. If I'm asked to do something, I'll break my back to see that it's done.

    2008, Stuart Smith, The Mad Ramblings of a Monkey: The Nefarious Project, page 17
    1 more example

    They're talkin' bout the night Santa went crazy The night St. Nicholas flipped Broke his back for some milk and cookies Sounds to me like he was tired of gettin' gypped

    1996, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “The Night Santa Went Crazy”, in Bad Hair Day
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see break, back.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbwork very hard, like a slave

Similar
slavebuckle downknuckle down
Broader
workdo work
Also see
break one's neckbuckle downknuckle downslavestrivetry

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry
APA

break one's back. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20one's%20back

MLA

“break one's back.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20one's%20back. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “break one's back,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20one's%20back.

Source: break one's back on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.