breakfast
Americannoun
-
breakfasts
plural
-
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)
-
breakfasts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
breakfasted,
past participle, past
-
breakfasting
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
breakfasts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
breakfasted,
past participle, past
-
breakfasting
present participle
noun
-
-
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
-
breakfastssimple
-
have breakfastedperfect
-
has breakfastedperfect
-
am breakfastingprogressive
-
are breakfastingprogressive
-
is breakfastingprogressive
-
have been breakfastingperfect progressive
-
has been breakfastingperfect progressive
Past
-
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:
Somewhere between a pizza roll and a savory breakfast pastry, these start with prepared pizza dough.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Most of us think of orange juice as a simple breakfast habit, something you pour without much thought.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
I have a game-day workout routine that I do in the weight room before shoot-around and then after I always get First Watch for breakfast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez also appeared on breakfast TV before the match.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
His eyes flutter open when I put his breakfast of dry toast and coffee on the table beside him.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Neighbors hosted pancake breakfasts and spaghetti nights to raise money for lawyers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
They are also looking for more package bargains, with more people searching specifically for all-inclusive deals and free breakfasts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
In 1863, a physician who advocated vegetarianism and hydrotherapy produced the first breakfast cereal to counter the meat-focused breakfasts of the day.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 21, 2026
This is one of my go-to options for easy yet nutritious weekday breakfasts.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
Bill and Monsieur Delacour were finishing their breakfasts, while Mrs. Weasley stood chatting to them over the frying pan.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Hazzard said the baboons were “well and resting” after their foiled escape attempt and had breakfasted on bananas, capsicum, apple and bread.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 26, 2020
We had breakfasted there a little while ago.
From New York Times ● Aug. 29, 2016
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
Far back behind them stood the high place where they had breakfasted.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
A study published last week in “Communications Engineering” details a breakthrough in egg science that, if widely adopted, could alter the course of human breakfasting forever.
From Salon ● Feb. 11, 2025
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
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.
