bread
Americannoun
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a kind of food made of flour or meal that has been mixed with milk or water, made into a dough or batter, with or without yeast or other leavening agent, and baked.
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food or sustenance; livelihood.
to earn one's bread.
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Slang. money.
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Ecclesiastical. the wafer or bread used in a Eucharistic service.
verb (used with object)
idioms
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know which side one's bread is buttered on, to be aware of those things that are to one's own advantage.
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take the bread out of someone's mouth, to deprive someone of livelihood.
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cast one's bread upon the waters, to act generously or charitably with no thought of personal gain.
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break bread,
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to eat a meal, especially in companionable association with others.
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to distribute or participate in Communion.
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noun
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a food made from a dough of flour or meal mixed with water or milk, usually raised with yeast or baking powder and then baked
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necessary food; nourishment
give us our daily bread
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a slang word for money
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Christianity a small loaf, piece of bread, or wafer of unleavened bread used in the Eucharist
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something offered as a means of distracting attention from a problem or grievance
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See break
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to do good without expectation of advantage or return
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to know what to do in order to keep one's advantages
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to deprive someone of a livelihood
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have breadedperfect
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has breadedperfect 3rd person singular
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have been breadingperfect progressive
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are breadingprogressive
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am breadingprogressive 1st person singular
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breadssingular 3rd person
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has been breadingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is breadingprogressive 3rd person singular
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breadingparticiple
Past
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had breadedperfect
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was breadingprogressive singular
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breadedparticiple
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breadedsimple
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were breadingprogressive plural
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had been breadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bread
before 950; 1950–55 bread for def. 3; Middle English breed, Old English brēad fragment, morsel, bread; cognate with German Brot
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.
But you have been given enough bread crumbs to keep you interested.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 2026
Now thousands of the 12,000-plus locations in the U.S. serve the most iconic item from their Japanese counterparts: an egg salad sandwich with Kewpie mayonnaise on milk bread.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026
Yeast has been growing in the guts of a frozen mummy called Oetzi the Iceman for thousands of years, scientists have discovered, telling AFP they used it to make a tasty sourdough bread.
From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026
“The three of us did much more than break bread at Olive Garden — we commiserated.”
From Salon • Jun. 3, 2026
On my lap was food, a shawl to be turned into coins, turned into a loaf of bread, if I could just think about how to do it.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
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.
