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Synonyms

breadbasket

American  
[bred-bas-kit, -bah-skit] / ˈbrɛdˌbæs kɪt, -ˌbɑ skɪt /

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.

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

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a geographical breadbasket.

    Iowa is a breadbasket state.
breadbasket British  
/ 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

Etymology

Origin of breadbasket

First recorded in 1545–55; bread + basket

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.

Experts warned that Ukraine is Europe’s breadbasket and Europe would starve.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 18, 2026

So how do you clean up the country known as "Europe's breadbasket"?

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026

A barley risotto studded with dried autumn mushrooms follows, Finland’s breadbasket turned into comfort.

From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026

The swathes of fertile farmland in Sudan, Africa's third-largest country and a potential agricultural breadbasket, have whetted the appetite of the desert Gulf countries across the Red Sea.

From Barron's • Nov. 21, 2025

But the boy, Willie Hyde, was given to snatching the last of the loaf as he carried the breadbasket from the table to the kitchen.

From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson

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.