From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbreak evenbreak evento neither make a profit nor lose money We’re hoping that we’ll at least break even, and perhaps make a small profit. → even-tempered → even
Examples from the Corpus
break even• When you add fund expenses, you have to earn more than 2 % a year just to break even.• The company made a small loss last year but this year has managed to break even.• Even La Scala, where an opening-night stall seat goes for £500, rarely comes close to breaking even.• I just figured I could come close to breaking even.• If we can break even - as I think we will - it will be a qualified success.• The company is aiming to break even at the pretax level in the year ending March 31.• Thus the market is now a money-loser: it needs 47,000 contracts a day to break even, but manages barely 30,000.• We'll be just breaking even if we can get an average audience of 300.• Thankfully, we broke even in our first year in business.• With these advantages, the mission actually breaks even on the first flight.• The hunters were not even breaking even, yet the hunt continued despite the falling catches. 