break the buck

verb

To fall below the value of one dollar per share.

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Meanings

verbbreak the buck (third-person singular simple present breaks the buck, present participle breaking the buck, simple past broke the buck, past participle broken the buck)

present singular third person breaks the buck · participle present breaking the buck · past broke the buck · participle past broken the buck

  1. USidiomaticbusinessTo fall below the value of one dollar per share.

    In 1994, during the Orange County bankruptcy, a few funds were poised to break the buck, until their parent companies stepped in.

    2000, Charles A. Jaffe, Chuck Jaffe’s Lifetime Guide to Mutual Funds: An Owner’s Manual, Perseus Books Group, →ISBN, page 110, →ISBN
    1 more example

    "We were likely going to see more funds halt redemptions" and break the buck. The insurance program is part of a wider rescue package […]

    2008 September 19, “Money-Market Funds Get $50 Billion Backstop From US (Update1)”, in Bloomberg

Origin

Break (as in break the bank) + the + buck (“dollar (colloquial)”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

break the buck. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20the%20buck

MLA

“break the buck.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20the%20buck. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “break the buck,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20the%20buck.

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