ball-breakingadj.
/ˈbɔːlˌbreɪkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbɔlˌbreɪkɪŋ/, /ˈbɑlˌbreɪkɪŋ/ slang (originally U.S.).
Characteristic of a ball-breaker; domineering, demanding, difficult.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > woman > [adjective] > dominating woman
ball-breaking1959
ball-busting1974
1959 J. Kerouac Doctor Sax 39 Gawd damn ball-breaking sonofabitch.
1976 Weekend Mag. (Montreal) 3 Jan. 2/2 The women's movement is a bunch of ball-breaking bitches.
1980 A. Santoli Everything we Had 93 That was really a ball-breaking hump. We had no water and no food.
1998 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 23 Aug. G8/3 The figure opposite me sipping cappuccino and politely answering questions seems a million miles away from the stereotype of a brash, Bronx-bred, ball-breaking Hollywood insider.
2004 New Statesman 1 Mar. 47 That epitome of uncouth, ball-breaking masculinity, the football manager.
Derivatives
ˈball-breakingly adv.
ΚΠ
1988 Literary Rev. Aug. 57/3 These are balanced, and not at all ball-breakingly feminist.
2001 Independent 2 Mar. 5/6 It [sc. theatre] sometimes is head-burningly, ball-breakingly, bowel-churningly bad.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1959