breakfast
Americannoun
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breakfasts
plural
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the first meal of the day; morning meal.
A hearty breakfast was served at 7 a.m.
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the food eaten at the first meal of the day.
a breakfast of bacon and eggs.
verb (used without object)
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breakfasts,
present (3rd person singular)
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breakfasted,
past participle, past
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breakfasting
present participle
verb (used with object)
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breakfasts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
breakfasted,
past participle, past
-
breakfasting
present participle
noun
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-
the first meal of the day
-
( as modifier )
breakfast cereal
a breakfast room
-
-
the food at this meal
-
(in the Caribbean) a midday meal
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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breakfastsimple
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breakfastssimple
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have breakfastedperfect
-
has breakfastedperfect
-
am breakfastingprogressive
-
are breakfastingprogressive
-
is breakfastingprogressive
-
have been breakfastingperfect progressive
-
has been breakfastingperfect progressive
Past
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breakfastedsimple
-
had breakfastedperfect
-
was breakfastingprogressive
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were breakfastingprogressive
-
had been breakfastingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of breakfast
First recorded in 1425–75, breakfast is from the late Middle English word brekfast. See break, fast 2
Explanation
Breakfast is the first meal of the day, usually eaten in the morning. Eating a healthy breakfast may give you a boost of energy to start your day. The word breakfast comes from the idea of "breaking the fast" after a night of sleeping. A fast is a period of not eating. During sleep, the body goes without food for hours, so when you eat breakfast, you stop fasting and start eating again, restoring energy for the day ahead. Breakfast foods vary widely depending on culture and personal preference. Eggs, cereal, toast, pancakes, and fruit are commonly eaten for breakfast in some places. In other places, soup, salad, fish, and rice are preferred.
Vocabulary lists containing breakfast
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:
If you’ve ever read anything by biographer Robert Caro, you get the feeling that he could wring 100 pages out of what he had for breakfast.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
In the late 1890s, John Harvey Kellogg, the director of a Seventh-day Adventist sanitarium in Battle Creek, Mich., wanted a vegetarian breakfast alternative to the bacon and eggs his clients were accustomed to.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
At breakfast, Collins is wearing a patterned turquoise jacket over a matching dress and high-heeled black leather boots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Soybean oil appears in salad dressings, mayonnaise, baked goods, infant formula, snacks and fried foods; soy lecithin emulsifies chocolate and bread; and soy protein fortifies energy bars, breakfast cereals and canned soup.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
Duane sauntered over to the mouth of his cave and snapped off a hanging icicle for breakfast.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Edinburgh became the first city there to introduce the tax in July, with those staying overnight in hotels, bed and breakfasts and self-catering accommodation charged an additional 5% on top of their original booking cost.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Almost as soon as I had a kitchen of my own, I started making stupidly elaborate breakfasts for overnight guests and baking for community fundraisers.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
Even as cases of cyclosporiasis rise in the U.S., you don’t have to avoid berry breakfasts and Caesar salads.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Neighbors hosted pancake breakfasts and spaghetti nights to raise money for lawyers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
The girls did not rise up and jostle themselves into a happy, wriggling line to get their breakfasts, as Penelope remembered.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Hazzard said the baboons were “well and resting” after their foiled escape attempt and had breakfasted on bananas, capsicum, apple and bread.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 26, 2020
We had breakfasted there a little while ago.
From New York Times ● Aug. 29, 2016
Mitt Romney in 2012 famously declared in Mississippi that he'd just breakfasted on "a biscuit and some cheesy grits" — drawing groans from a crowd who knew he meant cheese grits.
From US News ● Feb. 19, 2016
The well-heeled passengers breakfasted on smoked salmon and pastries, then boarded an air-conditioned Cuban government bus for a day of touring the city.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 7, 2015
As the next day was Saturday, most students would normally have breakfasted late.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
Clients include breakfasting Qataris, construction and security guards off overnight shifts and, this week, tourists in soccer jerseys descending on the country, where foreigners, mostly migrant workers, form the bulk of the 3 million population.
From Reuters ● Nov. 24, 2022
In the future, you could be breakfasting on false banana or snacking on pandanus tree fruit.
From BBC ● May 21, 2022
Bonus: This quirk makes stollen the ideal make-ahead treat for all your holiday gifting, breakfasting, and last-minute company needs.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2021
Wipe with vinegar: Prep the kitchen and pantry for early breakfasting and quick lunch packing.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 9, 2021
Conclusion reached by the Annex while breakfasting at nine: this is a trial landing, like the one two years ago in Dieppe.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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.
