breadcrumb
Americannoun
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a crumb of bread, either dried or soft.
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Also called breadcrumb trail. Digital Technology. Usually breadcrumbs. a sequence of text links on the current page of a website or web-based application, usually at the top, showing the page's location within a hierarchy of content or browsing history and providing a convenient navigational tool.
Online shoppers can use breadcrumbs to see other products in the same category.
noun
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the soft inner part of bread
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(plural) bread crumbled into small fragments, as for use in cooking
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of breadcrumb
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.
See Examples For:
Adeline lays out a breadcrumb trail that eventually reveals that Sonny has lugged some especially heavy personal baggage to Sanctuary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
This much silence from pop music’s most dramatic main character, biggest cornball and most profligate breadcrumb dropper has rattled the usual channels for all things Swift.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
They act like breadcrumb trails that help the immune system locate and remove cellular debris before it can trigger unwanted inflammation.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026
Millions of onlookers are attached to their screens, united in their desperation for any new breadcrumb in the case.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
Ged shot breadcrumb arrows after the owls and brought them down, and when they touched the ground there they lay, bone and crumb, all illusion gone.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
“We follow the trail of breadcrumbs as far as we can, and then try to bring them to life with empathy and compassion.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Not that it lacks a plan: Retrospectively, you can trace back the breadcrumbs that led toward a conclusion, of sorts — but I can say no more.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
He probably dropped a few breadcrumbs somewhere between the first tee and the 18th tee, and you didn’t take the bait, so he finally gave up.
From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026
The company says it automatically plays AI-selected scenes from movies, individualized to viewers as they scroll, and it can create a trail of digital breadcrumbs for them to follow as they delve deeper into subgenres.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
He had an idea that there were a few breadcrumbs in the pocket of his overalls.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
