A jawbreaker is a type of hard, round candy so tough that it feels like it might break your jaw if you bite down on it. These candies are usually about the size of a marble or golf ball and come in bright, colorful layers. The traditional way to eat a jawbreaker is to suck on it slowly, letting each layer dissolve to reveal a different color underneath. Some jawbreakers are small enough to finish in a few minutes, while giant ones can take hours or even days of patient sucking to get through completely.

The name is meant to be funny and exaggerated: jawbreakers won't actually break your jaw, but they are genuinely hard. If you try to bite through one too soon, you might hurt your teeth. That resistance is part of what makes them appealing to kids who enjoy a candy that lasts a long time.

The word jawbreaker can also describe anything difficult to pronounce, like a complicated scientific term or a tongue-twister. When someone uses a really long, confusing word, you might joke that it's a real jawbreaker.