Word.ws English Dictionary

broken the back of

broken the back of is the past participle of break the back of.

Meaning of break the back of

Verb

break the back of (third-person singular simple present breaks the back of, present participle breaking the back of, simple past broke the back of, past participle broken the back of)

  1. (idiomatic) To complete the greater part of (a project) or solve the most critical part of (a problem).
    • I've broken the back of painting the shed – I'll finish it after lunch.
  2. To overburden (a person, group, or organization).
    • You will have heard of the three kathia system. It broke the back of the farmers.1962, Rajendra Prasad, Legacy of Gandhiji: Speeches, page 6
  3. To cripple.
    • I don't think it has broken the back of organized crime at all in the New England area, any more than I think when we got convictions in Buffalo that it broke the back of organized crime in Buffalo, or when Mr. McKeon got convictions in Detroit it broke the back of organized crime in Detroit.1970, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Legal and Monetary Affairs Subcommittee, Federal Effort Against Organized Crime, page 60

Questions about broken the back of

What is broken the back of the past participle of?
Broken the back of is the past participle of break the back of.

Words near broken the back of in the dictionary

  1. broken source
  2. broken squelch
  3. broken stride
  4. broken tail
  5. broken telephone
  6. broken the back of
  7. broken the bank
  8. broken the cycle
  9. broken the deadlock
  10. broken the fourth wall
  11. broken the ice

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: broken the back of (page history and authors); break the back of (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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