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.

---

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.

---

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 )

---

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]

---

Etymology

Origin of bread and butter¹

First recorded in 1620–30

Origin of bread-and-butter¹

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

Example Sentences

Arsenal, for instance, used to bemoan its trips to Stoke City, a scrappy, physical team that made set pieces its bread and butter, because it had no hope of winning otherwise.

From The Wall Street Journal

The bread and butter of his show still is vulnerable conversations with veterans.

From The Wall Street Journal

Pre-fame, reception work was her bread and butter – most memorably at a hair salon that provided a "first glimpse of what it's like to have a glam squad".

From BBC

But keeping the Ibrox club in their box is the bread and butter.

From BBC

Utter asininity is the bread and butter of “The Naked Gun,” and the movie milks cop idiocy for all its worth.

From Salon