breakfast
Americannoun
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breakfasts
plural
-
the first meal of the day; morning meal.
A hearty breakfast was served at 7 a.m.
-
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)
-
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
-
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:
In the 1920s, bacon and eggs became a popular breakfast duo, in part thanks to a public relations blitz enacted on behalf of Beech-Nut sliced bacon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2026
They lean casually against the trailers, finding respite in the shade, and line up at the catering tent, which is still serving breakfast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
The chef’s kitchen boasts a walk-through pantry and a breakfast room.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026
Ultra-processed foods include many everyday products, such as breakfast cereals, packaged bread, and instant soups.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026
“I do,” I said, then finished my breakfast so I could get to school ahead of everyone else.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
"I have weekly breakfasts, we have a tent at events like agricultural fairs," he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
The feds operate more than a dozen food assistance programs, which provide grocery money for new parents and their toddlers, as well as free school breakfasts and lunches for lower-income children.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
For years, when I remembered those breakfasts, I focused on all the times I had said no.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
“It’s a place to help veterans work through the VA, to help veterans job source, to help veterans come together for Taco Tuesdays and breakfasts and dinners,” Chandler says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
After what seemed like weeks, I went back to school, by which time the elections had been won, the breakfasts ceased, and my classmates had found someone else to tease.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
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
In the morning, congratulating myself on not having used the emergency phone, I breakfasted on cloudberry doughnuts and homemade dried reindeer.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 22, 2019
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
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
An apocryphal story has George Washington breakfasting with Thomas Jefferson and referring to the Senate as a saucer intended to cool the passions of the intemperate lower chamber.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2025
A study published last week in “Communications Engineering” details a breakthrough in egg science that, if widely adopted, could alter the course of human breakfasting forever.
From Salon ● Feb. 11, 2025
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
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
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