jawbreaker

[ jaw-brey-ker ]
See synonyms for jawbreaker on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Informal. a word that is hard to pronounce: real jawbreakers like "antidisestablishmentarianism" or "antiangiogenic."

  2. a very hard, usually round, candy.

  1. Also called jaw crusher. Mining. a machine used to break up ore, consisting of a fixed plate and a hinged jaw moved by a toggle joint.

Origin of jawbreaker

1
First recorded in 1830–40; jaw1 + breaker1

Other words from jawbreaker

  • jawbreaking, adjective
  • jaw·break·ing·ly, adverb

Words Nearby jawbreaker

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use jawbreaker in a sentence

  • His title is a jawbreaker: director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

    Obama's Slavery Czar | Lynn Sherr | November 24, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • He had been careful, however, to pick the jawbreaker up and put it in his mouth.

    Pee-Wee Harris Adrift | Percy Keese Fitzhugh
  • Well, you see, hes the only fellow in the club who knows how to pronounce the names of those Russian and Polish jawbreaker towns.

    Anecdotes of the Great War | Carleton Britton Case

British Dictionary definitions for jawbreaker

jawbreaker

/ (ˈdʒɔːˌbreɪkə) /


noun
  1. Also called: jawcrusher a device having hinged jaws for crushing rocks and ores

  2. informal a word that is hard to pronounce

Derived forms of jawbreaker

  • jawbreaking, adjective
  • jawbreakingly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012