break one's back

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

break 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)

1. (idiomatic) Alternative form of break the back of (overburden), when applied to oneself.
   • 2008, Stuart Smith, The Mad Ramblings of a Monkey: The Nefarious Project, page 17:

     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.

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

See also

• break someone's back