break even
verb
break even is spelled B-R-E-A-K-E-V-E-N: 9 letters. People search “break-even vs breakeven” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As a verb, break even means “To neither gain nor lose a quantity of something, (especially) money” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in break even?
| Letters | 9: B-R-E-A-K-E-V-E-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | a phrase: the frequency list counts single words |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you pronounce break even?
- Australia
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-break_even.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with break even
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: breakeven (one word or two).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of break even
- breaks even present, singular, he/she/it
- breaking even participle, present
- broke even past
- broken even participle, past
- breakeven
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does break even mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To neither gain nor lose a quantity of something, (especially) money.
After an entire night playing poker, he nearly broke even.
- 2
To stay the same; to neither advance nor regress.
It's a lot of work just to break even and keep the weeds down.
noun
- 1
The level of revenues sufficient to cover costs.
We'll never reach break-even if our variable costs are higher than our selling price.
adjective
- 1
that is characterized by the level of revenues just sufficient to cover costs
The Altair 8800 computer was a break-even sale for MITS.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Break even in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rentrer dans ses frais , ne pas changer d'un iota |
| German | mit plus/minus null rauskommen , den Ist-Zustand bewahren |
| Spanish | cubrir gastos, no tener pérdidas , break even |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.