ball-breaker
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A person or thing that is extremely demanding or intimidating.
Literally: one who breaks balls
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Her new boss is a real ball-breaker, always piling on more work.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
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Common questions
What does “ball-breaker” mean?
A person or thing that is extremely demanding or intimidating. Literally: one who breaks balls
Is “ball-breaker” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
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