break one's back

English

Pronunciation

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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.
   • 1996, "Weird Al" Yankovic (lyrics and music), “The Night Santa Went Crazy”, in Bad Hair Day‎^[1]:

     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

   • 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