breadcrumb
Americannoun
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breadcrumbs
plural
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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:
You want a real torn chunk, something closer to an unruly crouton than a breadcrumb.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 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
This, despite getting nothing from her subject save for breadcrumb trails that went cold, leads that dissolved into thin air.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2024
Each of these edits leaves a unique digital breadcrumb trail and Stamm's lab has developed a suite of tools calibrated to find and follow them.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024
Thinking that I could find a breadcrumb trail to follow back in time, to when I had only one color of skin.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
A third research team, which includes Piecha and another researcher named Jeffrey Ladish, recently identified close to 1 million digital breadcrumbs from what it believes are OpenAI agents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
"I even ate the breadcrumbs left by the pigeons."
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
To trace the breadcrumbs of this tragedy, readers need critical context.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Times 101 lists through the years and specialized in a sort of “no shortcuts” pre-World War II philosophy, with everything made from scratch, including its breadcrumbs and crackers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026
“I wouldn’t need to leave breadcrumbs if I had a cell phone,” I muttered into my lap.
From "Monday's Not Coming" by Tiffany D. Jackson
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