the.com/bruiser

means A big, tough, physically intimidating person — originally a boxer or brawler, now anyone built like they could absorb a hit and keep moving.

from Straightforward agent noun from the verb 'bruise,' which traces back to Old English 'brysan' (to crush) and Old French 'bruisier' (to break), both feeding into Middle English — so a bruiser is, by name, simply 'one who bruises (others)' rather than one who gets bruised. The boxing-ring sense of a rough, heavyset fighter emerged in the 1700s-1800s and stuck, later stretching to describe any large, formidable person whether or not they'd ever thrown a punch.