breadcrumb

American  

[bred-kruhm] / ˈbrɛdˌkrʌm /

noun

• breadcrumbs
  plural

1. a crumb of bread, either dried or soft.

2. Also called breadcrumb trail. Digital Technology. Usually breadcrumbs. a sequence of text links on the current page of a website or web-based application, usually at the top, showing the page's location within a hierarchy of content or browsing history and providing a convenient navigational tool.

   Online shoppers can use breadcrumbs to see other products in the same category.

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breadcrumb British  

/ ˈbrɛdˌkrʌm /

noun

1. the soft inner part of bread

2. (plural) bread crumbled into small fragments, as for use in cooking

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verb

1. to coat (food) with breadcrumbs

   egg and breadcrumb the escalopes

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• breadcrumbs
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of breadcrumb

First recorded in 1760–70; bread + crumb

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

breadcrumb breadcrumbs

This much silence from pop music’s most dramatic main character, biggest cornball and most profligate breadcrumb dropper has rattled the usual channels for all things Swift.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

They act like breadcrumb trails that help the immune system locate and remove cellular debris before it can trigger unwanted inflammation.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026

It’s a time travel trip back to childhood — mass entertainment made intimate — with Parsons tossing us scraps of Clark and Mary’s personal histories like a breadcrumb trail.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026

Millions of onlookers are attached to their screens, united in their desperation for any new breadcrumb in the case.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

Thinking that I could find a breadcrumb trail to follow back in time, to when I had only one color of skin.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

A third research team, which includes Piecha and another researcher named Jeffrey Ladish, recently identified close to 1 million digital breadcrumbs from what it believes are OpenAI agents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

"I even ate the breadcrumbs left by the pigeons."

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

To trace the breadcrumbs of this tragedy, readers need critical context.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

Serve as a snack, or use anywhere you’d use croutons, breadcrumbs or a very persuasive little cheese crisp.

From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026

Meggie was just throwing them the breadcrumbs she had found in her jacket pocket—left over from a picnic on some long-forgotten day—when the door suddenly opened.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

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