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• s  characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort

• To replace the backbreaking wooden chairs on the convention floor, the Democratic National Committee has latched onto 2,500 softly cushioned seats from the defunct Paradise .
• Mummies from a rural oasis provide a rare window onto the brief, backbreaking lives of ordinary Egyptians 2,000 years ago.
• Without the groundbreaking -- and backbreaking -- efforts of Louis, Mary and Richard, the story of how we evolved would still be largely untold.

• arduous
• grueling
• gruelling
• hard
• heavy
• laborious
• operose
• punishing
• toilsome

News & Articles

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• In nation's breadbasket, Latinos stuck in poverty
  On a warm spring day, farmworker Cristina Melendez was bedridden and unable to make her way back into the asparagus fields of central California for the kind of backbreaking work she's done since childhood. ...
  June 10, 2013 - Associated Press via Yahoo! News
• In a nation soon to be majority minority, Hispanics struggle to climb out of poverty
  FRESNO, Calif. - On a warm spring day, farmworker Cristina Melendez was bedridden and unable to make her way back into the asparagus fields of central California for the kind of backbreaking work she's done since childhood.
  June 9, 2013 - Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
• NBA: San Antonio 92, Miami 88
  MIAMI, June 7 (UPI) -- Tony Parker hit the backbreaking jumper with 5.2 seconds left Thursday, lifting San Antonio to a 92-88 win over Miami in the opener of the NBA Finals.
  June 7, 2013 - UPI

Quotes

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• Charles Schumer in NBC Augusta
  New York Democrat, Senator Chuck Schumer said, "The backbreaking cost of this war to American families, the federal budget and the entire economy are beyond measure in many ways."
• Sebastien Loeb in AFP
  It is an interesting challenge for a driver,said Loeb, who has given up a drive in the 24-hour Le Mans race later this year to focus on winning a seventh title. "The special stages are not too backbreaking, but a good mix, with very quick...
• Barry Manilow in All American Patriots (press release)
  Brian has put together an amazing group of talent. I'm so honored to have been asked to sing while they skate,commented Manilow. "I'm practicing my double-herniated-triple-backbreaking-axle in case they ask me to skate!"