What does "leg-breaker" mean?

A violent thug, especially one employed as an enforcer by a criminal organization (e.g., a mafia, a loan shark).

What is a synonym for "leg-breaker"?

Common synonyms include: bully boy.

noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Noun

1
A violent thug, especially one employed as an enforcer by a criminal organization (e.g., a mafia, a loan shark). US, slang
"The thug was an acknowledged leg breaker, a shakedown artist, a peddler of violence."
2
A person whose job is to break the legs of poultry in a food processing facility.
"For example, jobs described as meat wrapper or leg breaker would both be coded "butcher meat cutter.""
3
A tackle or other on-field maneuver capable of breaking a player's leg.
"Arca performed a similar stunt with a high over-the-top-of-the-ball tackle on Andy Johnson, except he connected. It is what is called a leg-breaker."
4
A demanding bicycling competition or the course on which such a competition is held.
"Zoncolan is a fabled leg breaker of a 13.3km climb that is one of the toughest ascents ever included in a major stage race."
5
A cricketer who bowls leg breaks.
"Armstrong is a leg-breaker, with eight fielders on the on-side. Probably he would do better if he bowled more at the wicket."

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6
A leg break ball.
"Noble joined Wood, and the pair changed the aspect of affairs, 45 being up before a leg breaker from McGiverin proved too good for Noble's defense."

"The thug was an acknowledged leg breaker, a shakedown artist, a peddler of violence."

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.