break-even

American  

[breyk-ee-vuhn] / ˈbreɪkˈi vən /

Or breakeven

adjective

1. having income exactly equal to expenditure, thus showing neither profit nor loss.

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noun

1. break-even point.

2. Energy. the stage at which a fission or fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining.

break even British  

verb

1. (intr, adverb) to attain a level of activity, as in commerce, or a point of operation, as in gambling, at which there is neither profit nor loss

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noun

1. accounting

   1. the level of commercial activity at which the total cost and total revenue of a business enterprise are equal

   2. ( as modifier )

      breakeven prices

break even Idioms  

1. Neither gain nor lose in some venture, recoup the amount one invested. For example, If the dealer sells five cars a week, he'll break even. This expression probably came from one or another card game (some authorities say it was faro), where it meant to bet that a card would win and lose an equal number of times. It soon was transferred to balancing business gains and losses. Novelist Sinclair Lewis so used it in Our Mr. Wrenn (1914). The usage gave rise to the noun break-even point, for the amount of sales or production needed for a firm to recoup its investment. [Late 1800s]

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Etymology

Origin of break-even

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Example Sentences

Finally, the rate of hiring might even be falling below the so-called break-even rate — that is, the number of new jobs the economy has to create to absorb all the new entrants into the labor force.

From MarketWatch

When hiring falls below the break-even rate, the unemployment rate tends to rise and sends negative signals to the public about the economy.

From MarketWatch

Is hiring now below the break-even rate?

From MarketWatch

For one thing, the break-even rate is a moving target.

From MarketWatch

Finally, the rate of hiring might even be falling below the so-called break-even rate — that is, the number of new jobs the economy has to create to absorb all the new entrants into the labor force.

From MarketWatch