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 .
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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.
"He's going to bring home the bacon," he said from the Oval Office, "even though bacon isn't too big in Israel. I had to clear that up."
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2025
“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
Valadao tried to focus his campaign on his efforts to bring home the bacon with his seat on the Appropriations Committee and to scale back environmental protections so farmers would have more access to water.
From Washington Post • Nov. 28, 2018
Who says England couldn’t bring home the bacon in the World Cup?
From Seattle Times • Jul. 13, 2018
"Here's where I bring home the bacon and make my friend, the major, eat humble pie."
From The Golf Course Mystery by Steele, Chester K.
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.
