bring home the bacon
Idioms-
Earn a living, provide the necessities of life, as in Now that she had a job, Patricia could bring home the bacon .
-
Be successful, accomplish something of value, as in George went to Washington and brought home the bacon—he got the funding we needed . Although the earliest citation for this phrase in the Oxford English Dictionary dates from 1924, the term is widely believed to come from the much older game of catching a greased pig, a popular competition at country fairs in which the winner was awarded the pig.
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.
So too, a wife may be more attracted by a potential spouse who shares her interests, rather than one offering only to bring home the bacon.
From New York Times • Nov. 23, 2021
“And that is a big difference in making sure that we can bring home the bacon to the people who are counting on us.”
From Washington Post • Aug. 3, 2021
“She’s been my biggest encouragement. She could have easily said ‘No, you stay at the factory, and you just bring home the bacon, buddy.’
From Washington Times • Jan. 12, 2020
Who says England couldn’t bring home the bacon in the World Cup?
From Seattle Times • Jul. 13, 2018
You'll have to bring home the bacon, do the cooking and so on, and see what you can find along the line of edible roots, grains, fruits, and what-not.
From Spacehounds of IPC by Smith, E. E. (Edward Elmer)
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.
