breakfast
Americannoun
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the first meal of the day; morning meal.
A hearty breakfast was served at 7 a.m.
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the food eaten at the first meal of the day.
a breakfast of bacon and eggs.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
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the first meal of the day
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( as modifier )
breakfast cereal
a breakfast room
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the food at this meal
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(in the Caribbean) a midday meal
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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breakfastsimple
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breakfastssimple
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have breakfastedperfect
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has breakfastedperfect
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am breakfastingprogressive
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are breakfastingprogressive
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is breakfastingprogressive
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have been breakfastingperfect progressive
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has been breakfastingperfect progressive
Past
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breakfastedsimple
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had breakfastedperfect
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was breakfastingprogressive
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were breakfastingprogressive
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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:
A clean-up even due to take place at Tiergarten park and a breakfast market scheduled for Sunday morning were both cancelled following the attack.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Serving breakfast instead of lunch allows the restaurant to lean on cheaper items like eggs and potatoes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The plans revealed the kitchen’s original breakfast nook, which the couple later reinstated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
One box also creates the kind of abundance that makes brunch feel distinct from breakfast.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
But inaction went poorly with her vigorous personality and one morning to everyone’s surprise she appeared for breakfast in the dining room precisely at 8:10, with the announcement that doctors were often wrong.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Even as cases of cyclosporiasis rise in the U.S., you don’t have to avoid berry breakfasts and Caesar salads.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Neighbors hosted pancake breakfasts and spaghetti nights to raise money for lawyers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 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
Back at the Phoenix, Leanne Russell is busy preparing her popular English breakfasts for hungry customers.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
“Um, you guys,” said Kyle, standing near the fireplace at one end of the room, “don’t mean to interrupt your breakfasts, but we sort of need your help.”
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
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
And yet, like many New Yorkers, I’ve breakfasted all my life on buttered rolls, wrapped in plastic, foil or wax paper and sold for about a dollar at any corner deli, bodega or coffee cart.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 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
Administrations, breakfasted with editors, huddled with American nuclear experts, and briefed the Times editorial board.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 6, 2015
When he woke up the sky above was dim, not lighter but darker than when they had breakfasted.
From "The Two Towers" 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
Wipe with vinegar: Prep the kitchen and pantry for early breakfasting and quick lunch packing.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 9, 2021
Conclusion reached by the Annex while breakfasting at nine: this is a trial landing, like the one two years ago in Dieppe.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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.
