breakfast
Americannoun
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breakfasts
plural
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the first meal of the day; morning meal.
A hearty breakfast was served at 7 a.m.
-
the food eaten at the first meal of the day.
a breakfast of bacon and eggs.
verb (used without object)
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breakfasts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
breakfasted,
past participle, past
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breakfasting
present participle
verb (used with object)
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breakfasts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
breakfasted,
past participle, past
-
breakfasting
present participle
noun
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-
the first meal of the day
-
( as modifier )
breakfast cereal
a breakfast room
-
-
the food at this meal
-
(in the Caribbean) a midday meal
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
breakfastsimple
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breakfastssimple
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have breakfastedperfect
-
has breakfastedperfect
-
am breakfastingprogressive
-
are breakfastingprogressive
-
is breakfastingprogressive
-
have been breakfastingperfect progressive
-
has been breakfastingperfect progressive
Past
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breakfastedsimple
-
had breakfastedperfect
-
was breakfastingprogressive
-
were breakfastingprogressive
-
had been breakfastingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of breakfast
First recorded in 1425–75, breakfast is from the late Middle English word brekfast. See break, fast 2
Explanation
Breakfast is the first meal of the day, usually eaten in the morning. Eating a healthy breakfast may give you a boost of energy to start your day. The word breakfast comes from the idea of "breaking the fast" after a night of sleeping. A fast is a period of not eating. During sleep, the body goes without food for hours, so when you eat breakfast, you stop fasting and start eating again, restoring energy for the day ahead. Breakfast foods vary widely depending on culture and personal preference. Eggs, cereal, toast, pancakes, and fruit are commonly eaten for breakfast in some places. In other places, soup, salad, fish, and rice are preferred.
Vocabulary lists containing breakfast
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
If you’ve ever read anything by biographer Robert Caro, you get the feeling that he could wring 100 pages out of what he had for breakfast.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
John’s brother William saw the sales potential of a grain-based breakfast that only required adding milk, though he thought the bland-tasting result needed sweetening.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Instead, Luke loads up on protein — including nearly a carton of eggs to himself every morning for breakfast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
Since February this year, 1,250 schools have offered free breakfast clubs to their pupils.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Even while we were eating breakfast, he sat where he could look right in my face.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Lyne hosted breakfasts for women working in New York’s technology sector, informal gatherings that grew, in a matter of months, from fewer than a dozen people to more than 100 attendees, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
For years, when I remembered those breakfasts, I focused on all the times I had said no.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
“It’s a place to help veterans work through the VA, to help veterans job source, to help veterans come together for Taco Tuesdays and breakfasts and dinners,” Chandler says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Many people are reconsidering their Caesar salad lunches and berry breakfasts as cases of cyclosporiasis, the explosive-diarrhea illness, continue to rise in the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
They finished their breakfasts hastily, said good-bye to Fred and George, and walked back through the hall.
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
These genes were much more active when the men had fasted before exercise than when they had breakfasted.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2017
Mitt Romney in 2012 famously declared in Mississippi that he'd just breakfasted on "a biscuit and some cheesy grits" — drawing groans from a crowd who knew he meant cheese grits.
From US News ● Feb. 19, 2016
The well-heeled passengers breakfasted on smoked salmon and pastries, then boarded an air-conditioned Cuban government bus for a day of touring the city.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 7, 2015
One day in May, Rigault breakfasted on Chateaubriand aux truffes; a few days later, the fare included bottles of Pommard, Veuve Clicquot, and Nuits-Saint-Georges.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 15, 2014
Though it was not fully light, Sander and I dressed, breakfasted, and set out for the Globe.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
Clients include breakfasting Qataris, construction and security guards off overnight shifts and, this week, tourists in soccer jerseys descending on the country, where foreigners, mostly migrant workers, form the bulk of the 3 million population.
From Reuters ● Nov. 24, 2022
In the future, you could be breakfasting on false banana or snacking on pandanus tree fruit.
From BBC ● May 21, 2022
Bonus: This quirk makes stollen the ideal make-ahead treat for all your holiday gifting, breakfasting, and last-minute company needs.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2021
Two majors after that, he won the 2018 PGA Championship in St. Louis after breakfasting on Sunday with a two-shot lead he treated without tremble.
From Washington Post ● May 18, 2019
Like Mr. Clutter, the young man breakfasting in a cafe called the Little Jewel never drank coffee.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
