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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

See Examples For:

bread and butter bread-and-butter

Defense, after all, is hardly the company’s bread and butter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

“Identity is their bread and butter, and one of the infrastructure pieces that they’re dependent on is residential proxies,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

The bread and butter of a direct lender like Ares Capital is lending to companies acquired by private-equity firms.

From Barron's ● May 6, 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

“Hah!” he went on, handing me the bread and butter.

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

To win, El-Sayed is counting on mobilizing a progressive base, outraged by Trump's second term, and targeting bread-and-butter issues of importance across the political divide.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

“Show you care. Sit at the local hot dog joint or diner, talk to people about bread-and-butter issues they care about. Talk about inflation, talk about health care, talk about clean drinking water.”

From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2026

Non-AI workloads from its bread-and-butter cloud business that stores, manages and processes data and applications for companies continue to power growth in the company’s Azure cloud business, analysts and investors said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026

Their bread-and-butter is comforting the most comfortable by afflicting the most afflicted.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2026

I even got to sample Grandma Mayer’s bread-and-butter pickles.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney