break a leg

Idioms

Fracture one or more leg bones, as in She fell down the stairs and broke her leg in two places . [c. a.d. 1000]
Good luck! as in Play well, Rob—break a leg! The origin of this imperative to a performer about to go onstage is unclear; it may have been a translation of the German Hals und Beinbruch (“Break your neck and leg”), also of unknown origin. Equally mysterious is the Italian equivalent, In bocca di lupe , “Into the mouth of the wolf.” [c. 1900]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He moved up into motor racing in 1974, first into Formula Ford and then Formula 3, only to suffer a nasty accident at Mallory Park in 1976 and badly break a leg.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2025

"I think I took it a little too literally when they said, 'Go to Milwaukee and break a leg.'"

From Reuters • Aug. 24, 2023

So whose bright idea was it to tell Braves pitcher Charlie Morton to break a leg before Game 1?

From Seattle Times • Oct. 29, 2021

“If you catch Covid before, they don’t offer cancellation coverage. If you break a leg, the policy may only cover Covid medication. It varies by country.”

From New York Times • Nov. 26, 2020

“You can break a leg with that downhill stuff.”

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023