bread and butter

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See synonyms for bread and butter on Thesaurus.com

noun

bread spread with butter.

a basic means of support; source of livelihood; sustenance: The automobile industry is the bread and butter of many Detroiters.

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Origin of bread and butter

First recorded in 1620–30

Words nearby bread and butter

breach of faith, breach of promise, breach of the peace, breach of trust, bread, bread and butter, bread-and-butter letter, bread-and-butter model, bread-and-butter pickle, bread and circuses, bread and honey

Other definitions for bread and butter (2 of 2)

bread-and-butter

[ bred-n-buht-er ]

/ ˈbrɛd nˈbʌt ər /

adjective

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.

of or relating to basic needs: housing and other bread-and-butter political issues.

basic or everyday; staple; routine.

expressing thanks for hospitality: a bread-and-butter letter.

Origin of bread-and-butter

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use bread and butter in a sentence

As an example of good science-and-society policymaking, the history of fluoride may be more of a cautionary tale.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
As this list shows, punishments typically run to a short-ish jail sentence and/or a moderately hefty fine.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Yes, Byrd—dead four-and-a-half years now—was a Kleagle in the Ku Klux Klan.
Steve Scalise and the Right’s Ridiculous Racial Blame Game|Michael Tomasky|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Make ‘The Chew’s’ Carla Hall’s Sticky Toffee Pudding|Carla Hall|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST

While the beans are cooling and drying, melt the butter in a saute pan over medium heat.
Make Carla Hall’s Crispy Shallot Green Bean Casserole|Carla Hall|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The sailors sometimes use it to fry their meat, for want of butter, and find it agreeable enough.
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner (1801)|Daniel Defoe
You see, they always butter their chairs so that they won't stick fast when they sit down.
Davy and The Goblin|Charles E. Carryl
She also practises etching, pen-and-ink drawing, as well as crayon and water-color sketching.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
I tell you, madam, most distinctly and emphatically, that it is bread pudding and the meanest kind at that.'
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
No law of that country must exceed in words the number of letters in their alphabet, which consists only in two-and-twenty.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift

British Dictionary definitions for bread and butter

bread and butter

/ informal /

noun

(modifier) a means of support or subsistence; livelihoodthe inheritance was their bread and butter

bread-and-butter

providing a basic means of subsistencea bread-and-butter job
solid, reliable, or practicala bread-and-butter player
expressing gratitude, as for hospitality (esp in the phrase bread-and-butter letter)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with bread and butter

bread and butter

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]

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

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

bread and butter

Origin of bread and butter

Words nearby bread and butter

Other definitions for bread and butter (2 of 2)

Origin of bread-and-butter

Words related to bread and butter

How to use bread and butter in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bread and butter

Other Idioms and Phrases with bread and butter