staff of life

noun

1. bread, considered as the mainstay of the human diet.

staff of life

1. A basic staple food, such as bread, rice, or potatoes: “Rice is the staff of life in eastern Asia.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of staff of life¹

First recorded in 1630–40

Idioms and Phrases

A staple or necessary food, especially bread. For example, Rice is the staff of life for a majority of the earth's people. This expression, which uses staff in the sense of “a support,” was first recorded in 1638.

Example Sentences

The staff of life is the stuff to like at Michele’s.

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Bread, as the Old Testament and countless scribes have told us, is the staff of life.

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A chef-server shows off a mill and bowls of bran and flour that demonstrate why the staff of life is the stuff we like.

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“O conversation the staff of life,” the young T. S. Eliot wrote to his Harvard friend and fellow poet Conrad Aiken in 1914.

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But she sees, even through that lens of restriction, the fundamental truth and necessity of the staff of life.

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