bread
Americannoun
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breads
plural
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a kind of food made of flour or meal that has been mixed with milk or water, made into a dough or batter, with or without yeast or other leavening agent, and baked.
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food or sustenance; livelihood.
to earn one's bread.
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Slang. money.
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Ecclesiastical. the wafer or bread used in a Eucharistic service.
verb (used with object)
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breads,
present (3rd person singular)
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breaded,
past participle, past
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breading
present participle
idioms
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know which side one's bread is buttered on, to be aware of those things that are to one's own advantage.
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take the bread out of someone's mouth, to deprive someone of livelihood.
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cast one's bread upon the waters, to act generously or charitably with no thought of personal gain.
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break bread,
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to eat a meal, especially in companionable association with others.
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to distribute or participate in Communion.
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noun
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a food made from a dough of flour or meal mixed with water or milk, usually raised with yeast or baking powder and then baked
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necessary food; nourishment
give us our daily bread
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a slang word for money
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Christianity a small loaf, piece of bread, or wafer of unleavened bread used in the Eucharist
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something offered as a means of distracting attention from a problem or grievance
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See break
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to do good without expectation of advantage or return
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to know what to do in order to keep one's advantages
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to deprive someone of a livelihood
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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breadsimple
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breadssimple
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have breadedperfect
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has breadedperfect
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am breadingprogressive
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are breadingprogressive
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is breadingprogressive
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have been breadingperfect progressive
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has been breadingperfect progressive
Past
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breadedsimple
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had breadedperfect
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was breadingprogressive
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were breadingprogressive
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had been breadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bread
before 950; 1950–55 bread for def. 3; Middle English breed, Old English brēad fragment, morsel, bread; cognate with German Brot
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:
At some point between the blacksmithery heat, second loaf of cinnamon bread and feeling my soul leave my body aboard a haunted coal mine coaster, it hit me that this simply will never happen again.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
In the chapter titled “Cerium,” Levi describes how, wracked with hunger, he stole iron-cerium rods to make flints for cigarette lighters so that he could exchange them for bread.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
In case you’re unfamiliar with Ritchson, he’s a muscles-on-muscles behemoth whose bread and butter happens to be skull-drubbing action films.
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026
She sells bottled water, soft drinks, bread, milk and other foodstuffs.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
When it was time to wake up the bread dough, Maggie rushed back to the stand.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
"You will see fast food, Indian breads and curries, desserts, and whatever else people have been sending," said Kaanita, a 21-year-old student.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Ultra-processed foods include a wide range of packaged and convenience items such as chips, crackers, frozen meals, processed meats, sugary drinks, breakfast cereals and breads.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 19, 2026
Among the healthier options are whole-grain breads, some soy and almond milks and some plant-based meat alternatives, said Maya Vadiveloo, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Rhode Island.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
Recently, butter garlic naan - a flavour-packed rendition of the traditional naan - topped Taste Atlas' best breads list.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025
There was a silver tureen of some kind of fragrant soup; plates piled high with colorful fruits; breads that were round and baked with golden-brown crusts.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
Several Argentine restaurants proudly serve the milanesa - an Argentine dish of breaded beef or chicken which is thought to be one of Messi's favourites.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Courtesy of Delish’s Anya Ptacek, this fun recipe for chicken parmesan swaps breaded, fried chicken cutlets for dinosaur nuggets.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
A Buffalo Chicken pizza with housemade hot sauce, breaded chicken, mozzarella and ricotta is as experimental as he gets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
Further, the amount of Cs-137 detected in the one batch of breaded shrimp was really quite low.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2025
Then he found the cookbook and flipped to the page for breaded pork chops.
From "The River" by Gary Paulsen
It was almost limp with moisture, and there was an obvious contrast between where the breading ended and the chicken began.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
Many all-you-can-eat menus lead with heavy, low-cost carbohydrates like pasta or thick breading to trigger fullness before you’ve reached the break-even point on higher-cost proteins.
From MarketWatch ● May 14, 2026
When not working shifts at Echo Park vegetarian restaurant Elf Cafe, Kopushyan toiled in his home kitchen with spice blends for four and a half months, obsessively tinkering with breading, seasoning and frying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2025
"I was half way through breading fish for tea, it ran through the three bowls which I had to throw away," Donna said.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2025
She finishes breading the final croquette, then glances at her wristwatch.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
