breakneck

English

Etymology

From break +‎ neck.

Adjective

breakneck (comparative more breakneck, superlative most breakneck)

1. Dangerously fast; hell-for-leather.

   breakneck pace

   He came running around the corner at a breakneck pace and couldn't stop in time to avoid hitting the fruit stand.

   • 1961 November, H. G. Ellison, P. G. Barlow, “Journey through France: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 668:

     The line to Dunières conists of a series of breakneck descents almost invariably ended by a violent curve and followed immediately by a panting climb, on which the engine barked thunderously but failed unhappily to maintain its booked speed of 13 m.p.h.

   • 2023 June 27, Clea Skopeliti, “‘The future is bleak’: how AI concerns are shaping graduate’s career choices”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     The use of machine learning in this field is hardly new, but the breakneck pace at which it is improving is worrying, Lund says: “With the advent of ChatGPT, the future is bleak.”

Translations

dangerously fast; hell-for-leather

• Dutch: halsbrekend (nl)
• Finnish: vinha (fi)
• German: halsbrecherisch (de)
• Italian: all'impazzata, a rotta di collo (it), a rompicollo (it)
• Spanish: a toda carrera, a tumba abierta, como alma que lleva el diablo, disparado (es), como relámpago, a toda leche (es) (Spain), a toda ostia (Spain), a todo vapor, a velocidad de vértigo, a toda máquina, a toda pastilla
• Swedish: halsbrytande (sv)
• Turkish: kafa göz yarabilen, son derece tehlikeli
• Ukrainian: стрімголо́в (strimholóv), з карколо́мною шви́дкістю (z karkolómnoju švýdkistju)

Adverb

breakneck (not comparable)

1. Dangerously fast.
   • 2009, Carlos Reid, Stalking the Warden, page 165:

     I ran breakneck another hundred yards.

Noun

breakneck (plural breaknecks)

1. A fall that breaks the neck.
2. A dangerous steep place from which one could fall and be injured.

Anagrams

• creekbank