big break

noun

A breakthrough, especially the first big hit of a previously unknown performer or performers in the entertainment industry.

Meanings

nounbig break (plural big breaks)

plural big breaks

  1. idiomaticentertainmentA breakthrough, especially the first big hit of a previously unknown performer or performers in the entertainment industry.
    1 more example

    The East London Line gained a connection to the Jubilee Line Extension when a new station was added at Canada Water in 1999, but its big break came in 2010, when it was incorporated into the London Overground, a network that rehabilitates some dowdy and obscure suburban lines (most particularly the old North London Railway) to create an orbital railway for the capital.

    2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 93

Translations

Finnish läpimurto
  • läpimurto(entertainment) A breakthrough, especially the first big hit of a previously unknown performer or performers
French percée
  • percée(entertainment) A breakthrough, especially the first big hit of a previously unknown performer or performers
Cite this entry
APA

big break. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/big%20break

MLA

“big break.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/big%20break. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “big break,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/big%20break.

Source: big break on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.