bread

[bred]

noun

1. 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.

2. food or sustenance; livelihood.

   to earn one's bread.

3. Slang.,  money.

4. Ecclesiastical.,  the wafer or bread used in a Eucharistic service.

verb (used with object)

1. Cooking.,  to cover with breadcrumbs or meal.

bread

/ brɛd /

noun

1. 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

2. necessary food; nourishment

   give us our daily bread

3. a slang word for money

4. Christianity a small loaf, piece of bread, or wafer of unleavened bread used in the Eucharist

5. something offered as a means of distracting attention from a problem or grievance

6. See break

7. to do good without expectation of advantage or return

8. to know what to do in order to keep one's advantages

9. to deprive someone of a livelihood

verb

1. (tr) to cover with breadcrumbs before cooking

   breaded veal

Other Word Forms

• breadless adjective
• breadlessness noun
• unbreaded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bread¹

before 950; 1950–55 bread for def. 3; Middle English breed, Old English brēad fragment, morsel, bread; cognate with German Brot

Word History and Origins

Origin of bread¹

Old English brēad ; related to Old Norse braud , Old Frisian brād , Old High German brōt

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. know which side one's bread is buttered on, to be aware of those things that are to one's own advantage.

2. take the bread out of someone's mouth, to deprive someone of livelihood.

3. cast one's bread upon the waters, to act generously or charitably with no thought of personal gain.

4. break bread,

   1. to eat a meal, especially in companionable association with others.

   2. to distribute or participate in Communion.

More idioms and phrases containing bread

• break bread
• greatest thing since sliced bread
• know which side of bread is buttered
• take the bread out of someone's mouth

Example Sentences

The film rarely grants him this kind of serenity, and that’s why the scene hits so hard: the first thing to make him feel human is something as humble as bread in the sun.

Read more on Salon

It comes with rye bread, sliced Emmental cheese, coleslaw, Russian dressing and Raye’s Cranberry Mustard.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

At Artist Bakery, a viral spot for salt bread, two Japanese women told me they’d come to South Korea simply to “travel”—until I mentioned my beauty treatments.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Starch grains from wheat and barley, along with clear signs of milling, cooking, and baking, indicated that his meals included cooked wheat semolina and baked wheat bread.

Read more on Science Daily

"They weren't animals who went out to fish; they were fathers, sons, husbands, uncles who went to earn bread for their children."

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• cabbage 
• dough