Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

break even

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: 5.12 in modern English

Syllables: break even
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

1

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To neither gain nor lose a quantity of something, (especially) money.

verb

To stay the same; to neither advance nor regress.

Example Sentences

"After an entire night playing poker, he nearly broke even."
""How much energy did you gain from those attacks verses^([sic – meaning versus]) how much did you use to heal?" "It was a small net loss. Close enough that I basically broke even. The nose hurt more, but the knee required more energy to put back together.""
"The BTC had no clear plan how to fulfil its remit to break even, year-on-year."
"It's a lot of work just to break even and keep the weeds down."

Inflected Forms

breaks even (present, singular) breaking even (participle, present) broke even (past) broken even (participle, past)

Phrases

break-even break-even point break-even time at cost pay for itself wash its face

Frequently Paired Words

at cost pay for itself wash its face

Questions

What does break even mean?: To neither gain nor lose a quantity of something, (especially) money.

How to pronounce break even

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “break even”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “break even”.
Repeat and practice — Say “break even” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.