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• bread and butter
  bread and butter

  noun

  bread spread with butter.
• bread-and-butter
  bread-and-butter

  adjective

  providing a livelihood or basic source of income; supplying the basic needs of life.

bread and butter

¹ American  

noun

1. bread spread with butter.

2. a basic means of support; source of livelihood; sustenance.

   The automobile industry is the bread and butter of many Detroiters.

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bread-and-butter ² American  

[bred-n-buht-er] / ˈbrɛd nˈbʌt ər /

adjective

1. providing a livelihood or basic source of income; supplying the basic needs of life.

   a bread-and-butter job; the agency's bread-and-butter account.

2. of or relating to basic needs.

   housing and other bread-and-butter political issues.

3. basic or everyday; staple; routine.

4. expressing thanks for hospitality.

   a bread-and-butter letter.

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bread and butter British  

noun

1. (modifier) a means of support or subsistence; livelihood

   the inheritance was their bread and butter

2. 1. providing a basic means of subsistence

      a bread-and-butter job

   2. solid, reliable, or practical

      a bread-and-butter player

   3. expressing gratitude, as for hospitality (esp in the phrase bread-and-butter letter )

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bread and butter Idioms  

1. The essential, sustaining element, as in The quality of the schools is the bread and butter of town property values . This idiom alludes to a basic food, bread spread with butter. [c. 1700]

2. Means of livelihood, as in John's job is the family's bread and butter . [First half of 1700s]

3. Ordinary, routine, as in Don't worry about it; this is just a bread and butter assignment . [Second half of 1800s]

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Etymology

Origin of bread and butter¹

First recorded in 1620–30

Origin of bread-and-butter²

First recorded in 1720–30; adj. use of noun phrase bread and butter

Example Sentences

Granted, the Emmys have made repetitiveness its bread and butter for decades now.

From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026

In the core public-markets arm, BlackRock’s iShares exchange-traded funds remain its bread and butter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

We started with a generous spread of complimentary bread and butter, fresh oysters, and escargot—my wife’s favorite, not mine, though the leftover sauce was perfect for dipping.

From Salon • Mar. 31, 2026

Further inflation would hurt economic demand, as well as banks’ bread and butter: loan volumes, corporate transaction volumes, and financial market activity.

From Barron's • Mar. 10, 2026

But large choruses, soloists and orchestra were bread and butter to Bach in his Passions, Handel in his oratorios, Mozart in his Requiem and Haydn in his grand choral works.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall