bread line
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of bread line
First recorded in 1895–1900
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.
It’s another scuffle at a bread line and it appears that a bakery in Beirut has been illegally hoarding subsidized wheat imports.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 8, 2022
Her son was already on the bread line but the cost of living crisis has plunged him into poverty, she said.
From BBC • Apr. 16, 2022
His first entrée into politics comes when he’s plucked from a bread line and offered $2 to fraudulently vote for the incumbent mayor.
From Slate • Mar. 30, 2021
When the two are ordered to compete on the same story — winner scores job, loser hits bread line — the sparks fly.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 10, 2018
“More like the bread line at Fleischmann’s,” I answered gloomily.
From The Case and Exceptions Stories of Counsel and Clients by Hill, Frederick Trevor
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.
