the breaks
The way things have unfolded that are beyond one's control. I'm pretty gutted about not getting into the grad school program I wanted, but I guess those are the breaks. The breaks were against us in this game, from poor decisions by the ref to a series of injuries that took our best players out of the match.
the breaks
Pieces of luck, turns of events, as in No matter how well he pitches, the team always makes fielding errors-that's the breaks, I guess , or There's not much you can do if the breaks are against you. In the singular and modified forms, this term becomes good or bad or lucky break . In the plural form, only the context determines its favorable or unfavorable meaning. [Slang; early 1900s] Also see tough break.