"break even" meaning in English

See break even in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: en-au-break even.ogg [Australia] Forms: breaks even [present, singular, third-person], breaking even [participle, present], broke even [past], broken even [participle, past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|<,,broke,broken>}} break even (third-person singular simple present breaks even, present participle breaking even, simple past broke even, past participle broken even)
  1. (idiomatic) To neither gain nor lose a quantity of something, (especially) money. Tags: idiomatic Translations (to neither gain nor lose money): 不賠不賺 /不赔不赚 (bùpéibùzhuàn) (Chinese Mandarin), 保本 (bǎoběn) (Chinese Mandarin), olla omillaan (Finnish), päästä omilleen (Finnish), breikata [informal] (Finnish), rentrer dans ses frais (French), mit plus/minus null rauskommen (German), wychodzić na zero [imperfective] (Polish), wyjść na zero [perfective] (Polish), cubrir gastos (Spanish), no tener pérdidas (Spanish), gå jämnt ut (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-break_even-en-verb-BUMbUufk Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English light verb constructions, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 2 entries, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 54 46 Disambiguation of English light verb constructions: 49 51 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 49 51 Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 49 51 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 45 55 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 47 53 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 45 55 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 47 53 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 46 54 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 46 54 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 45 55 Disambiguation of 'to neither gain nor lose money': 71 29
  2. (idiomatic) To stay the same; to neither advance nor regress. Tags: idiomatic Translations (to stay the same): pysyä ennallaan (Finnish), pysyä paikallaan (Finnish), ne pas changer d'un iota (French), den Ist-Zustand bewahren (German), wychodzić na to samo [imperfective] (Polish), wyjść na to samo [perfective] (Polish)
    Sense id: en-break_even-en-verb-6Mq2ozsg Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English light verb constructions, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 2 entries, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 54 46 Disambiguation of English light verb constructions: 49 51 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 49 51 Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 49 51 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 45 55 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 47 53 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 45 55 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 47 53 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 46 54 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 46 54 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 45 55 Disambiguation of 'to stay the same': 2 98
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: break-even, break-even point, break-even time Related terms: at cost, pay for itself, wash its face

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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  "derived": [
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      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "break-even"
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      "_dis1": "0 0",
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        "(idiomatic) To neither gain nor lose a quantity of something, (especially) money."
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          "_dis1": "71 29",
          "code": "cmn",
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          "roman": "bùpéibùzhuàn",
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          "_dis1": "71 29",
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          "_dis1": "71 29",
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          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
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          "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
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          "code": "es",
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          "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
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          "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
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          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "note": "“alcanzar/lograr el”/“llegar al” “equilibrio operativo/resultativo/«en los resultados»”/“break even”/breakeven/“break even point”",
          "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money"
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          "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
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        "To stay the same; to neither advance nor regress."
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      "id": "en-break_even-en-verb-6Mq2ozsg",
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          "stay",
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          "the same",
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        "(idiomatic) To stay the same; to neither advance nor regress."
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          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "to stay the same",
          "word": "pysyä ennallaan"
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          "_dis1": "2 98",
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          "lang_code": "fi",
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          "word": "pysyä paikallaan"
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          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "to stay the same",
          "word": "ne pas changer d'un iota"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to stay the same",
          "word": "den Ist-Zustand bewahren"
        },
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          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "to stay the same",
          "tags": [
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          ],
          "word": "wychodzić na to samo"
        },
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          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "to stay the same",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
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          "word": "wyjść na to samo"
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}
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      "word": "break-even"
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    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "bùpéibùzhuàn",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
      "word": "不賠不賺 /不赔不赚"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "bǎoběn",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
      "word": "保本"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
      "word": "olla omillaan"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
      "word": "päästä omilleen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "word": "breikata"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
      "word": "rentrer dans ses frais"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
      "word": "mit plus/minus null rauskommen"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "wychodzić na zero"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "wyjść na zero"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
      "word": "cubrir gastos"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
      "word": "no tener pérdidas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "note": "“alcanzar/lograr el”/“llegar al” “equilibrio operativo/resultativo/«en los resultados»”/“break even”/breakeven/“break even point”",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "sense": "to neither gain nor lose money",
      "word": "gå jämnt ut"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "to stay the same",
      "word": "pysyä ennallaan"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "to stay the same",
      "word": "pysyä paikallaan"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "to stay the same",
      "word": "ne pas changer d'un iota"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to stay the same",
      "word": "den Ist-Zustand bewahren"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "to stay the same",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "wychodzić na to samo"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "to stay the same",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "wyjść na to samo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "break even"
}

Download raw JSONL data for break even meaning in English (5.8kB)

{
  "called_from": "translations/609-20230504",
  "msg": "Translation too long compared to word, so it is skipped",
  "path": [
    "break even"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "verb",
  "title": "break even",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-09 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (ccec6f1 and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.