breadfruit
Americannoun
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a large, round, starchy fruit borne by a tree, Artocarpus altilis, of the mulberry family, native to the Pacific islands, used, baked or roasted, for food.
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the tree bearing this fruit.
noun
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a moraceous tree, Artocarpus communis (or A. altilis ), of the Pacific Islands, having large round edible starchy usually seedless, fruit
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the fruit of this tree, which is eaten baked or roasted and has a texture like bread
Etymology
Origin of breadfruit
Vocabulary lists containing breadfruit
Pacific Islands - Introductory
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Pacific Islands - Middle School and High School
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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.
During the Bounty’s infamous mutiny, Tahitian breadfruit saplings filled its hold.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026
Nearshore fishing was good, but there were no breadfruit trees, no church, no school, and only one plywood structure to shield older islanders from the elements.
From Slate • Jul. 22, 2025
The Asante exiles in Seychelles lived in "Ashanti Town", on an old sugar plantation, Le Rocher, on the main island Mahé, overlooking the ocean and surrounded by coconut, mango, breadfruit, orange and jackfruit trees.
From BBC • Nov. 26, 2024
In 1778, British explorer Capt. James Cook was welcomed when he anchored off the Hawaiian islands by locals eager to trade cuttlefish, breadfruit and pigs for nails and iron tools.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2023
Behind the house, under the breadfruit tree, there was a pigsty, now empty, the mud the pigs loved to bathe in dried into dusty ridges.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
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.
