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• break-even
  break-even

  adjective

  having income exactly equal to expenditure, thus showing neither profit nor loss.
• break even
  break even

  verb

  (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

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

See Examples For:

break-even break even

But recouping money usually isn’t enough for a studio like Warner Bros., which is always looking for profit margin, not break-even figures.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

Aston Villa are the next closest to break-even, with an overall balance of -10.02m euros.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

“The point at which the buyer has more money than the renter is the break-even point” — and it takes longer now than it used to because home prices are so high.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Kumar says they will also need to communicate a clear plan to the market on how much further investment is needed and when a break-even is expected on these ambitious bets.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

“Perhaps there’s a break-even point for all propellants.”

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

To break even the system would have to make around 12% of savings in one year.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

In San Francisco, it similarly takes 16.9 years to save for a down payment, and 30 years in the house, for a total of 46.9 years to break even.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Some captains said they could net up to $20,000 this season, but others just want to break even.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

SpaceX could also break even by the end of September.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

What I took out of them was that character was measured by facing up to difficult situations and that a hero was a man who would not break even under the most trying circumstances.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela