Encyclopedia

ball breaker

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ball breaker

[′bȯl ¦brāk·ər]
(engineering)
A steel or iron ball that is hoisted by a derrick and allowed to fall on blocks of waste stone to break them or to swing against old buildings to demolish them. Also known as skull cracker; wrecking ball.
A coring and sampling device consisting of a hollow glass ball, 3 to 5 inches (7.5 to 12.5 centimeters) in diameter, held in a frame attached to the trigger line above the triggering weight of the corer; used to indicate contact between corer and bottom.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

wrecking ball, skull cracker

A heavy steel ball used in structural demolition; usually swung or dropped from a crane or derrick.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
References in periodicals archive
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t bo for dr co wi pe elected, So while a male boss will be admired being macho, driven and a tough cookie, a female one with a similar personality gets called an aggressive ball breaker.
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