breadbasket

[ bred-bas-kit, -bah-skit ]
See synonyms for breadbasket on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a basket or similar container for bread or rolls.

  2. an agricultural area that provides large amounts of food, especially grain, to other areas.

  1. Slang. a person's stomach or abdomen.

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a geographical breadbasket: Iowa is a breadbasket state.

Origin of breadbasket

1
First recorded in 1545–55; bread + basket

Words Nearby breadbasket

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use breadbasket in a sentence

  • Think of it as sort of the breadbasket of America, lush with fruits and grains.

  • I'll eat the whole breadbasket, and then miss other things about the meal, and not have room for dessert.

    Confessions of a Mad Scientist | Katie Workman | August 18, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Shifting weather patterns may turn the American “breadbasket” into a dustbowl.

  • The oldster before mentioned put his hand into the breadbasket, and seized a handful of the biscuit.

    The King's Own | Captain Frederick Marryat
  • When she saw him, Mrs. breadbasket stepped suddenly back into the parlor with my ladies.

    Burlesques | William Makepeace Thackeray
  • It was Mrs. breadbasket, the housekeeper, who brought this letter, and looked mighty contemptuous as she gave it.

    Burlesques | William Makepeace Thackeray
  • Indeed, there were occasions when the breadbasket was removed from my table, so savage was the raid I made upon it.

    Nights in London | Thomas Burke
  • A general chirp of conversation is presently established, interspersed with heavy demands upon the breadbasket by the gentlemen.

    Ask Momma | R. S. Surtees

British Dictionary definitions for breadbasket

breadbasket

/ (ˈbrɛdˌbɑːskɪt) /


noun
  1. a basket for carrying bread or rolls

  2. a slang word for stomach

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