BREAK-EVEN Definition & Meaning

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break-even

or ��𲹰�·��·��

[ breyk-ee-vuhn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

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

noun

break-even point.
Energy. the stage at which a fission or fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining.

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

noun

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

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of break-even¹

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

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Idioms and Phrases

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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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

With tickets priced from £10, a 50,000-strong crowd was the break-even point.

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As profits have risen, so have prices, and Big Game's break-even point has dropped.

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To assess the net environmental impact, the research team conducted a "break-even analysis" to determine if the plastic bag policy, despite the negative spillover effects, ultimately reduced plastic waste.

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And, the game will eliminate break-even tickets, meaning that when a player wins, they’ll always win more than the cost of the ticket.

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“The idea was that if the total concert expense, including advertising, talent, labor, etc., could result in break-even or better, that was how success was defined,” said Alan Balch, a longtime Santa Anita marketing and public relations executive who is the executive director of the California Thoroughbred Trainers.

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

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