them's the breaks

phrase

That is the way things happen; that's life.

Similar
that's the way the cookie crumblesc'est la vieit is as it isit is how it isit is what it islife's a bitchshit happensso be it
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Meanings

phrase

alternative those are the breaks · alternative them’s da breaks

  1. colloquialidiomaticThat is the way things happen; that's life.

    And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks.

    2022 July 7, Heather Stewart, quoting Boris Johnson, “Boris Johnson’s resignation speech: what he said, and what he meant”, in The Guardian

    Synonyms: that's the way the cookie crumbles, c'est la vie, it is as it is, it is how it is, it is what it is, life's a bitch, shit happens, so be it

Synonyms & antonyms

phraseThat is the way things happen; that's life.

Similar
that's the way the cookie crumblesc'est la vieit is as it isit is how it isit is what it islife's a bitchshit happensso be itso is lifeso it goessuch is lifethat's lifethat's that and this is thisthat's the way it goesthat’s the way it playsthat's the way life isthat's the way the ball bouncesthat's the way the cookie crumblesthat's the way the mop flops
Also see
c'est la vielife's a bitchshit happensthat's the way the cookie crumbles

Origin

From break in the sense “stroke of luck” (compare tough break, lucky break).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“them's the breaks.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/them's%20the%20breaks. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

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

Source: them's the breaks on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.