bread Hear it!

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bread definition

bread (bred)

noun

    1. a food baked from a leavened, kneaded dough made with flour or meal, water, yeast, etc.
    2. a similar food, as matzo, that is not leavened and so remains flat when baked
  2. any baked food like bread but made with a batter quick breads, corn bread
  3. food generally
  4. the means of living; livelihood to earn one's bread
  5. Slang money

Etymology: ME bred < OE bread, crumb, morsel < IE *bhreu-, var. of *bhereu-, to ferment < base *bher-, well up, seethe > brew, burn, L fervere, to boil

transitive verb

to cover with bread crumbs before cooking
bread Idioms

bread and butter

one's means of subsistence; livelihood

break bread

to partake of food; eat

cast one's bread upon the waters

to be generous or do good deeds without expecting something in return

know which side one's bread is buttered on

to know what is to one's advantage and from what source it comes

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms bread idiom

bread Synonyms

bread

n.

  1. Grain product

    loaf, baked goods, the staff of life.

    Types of bread include: whole wheat, grain, oatmeal, graham, rye, leavened, unleavened, matzo, salt-rising, yeast, quick, flat, pita, baguette, corn, sourdough, Russian, raisin, pumpernickel, Vienna, French, Italian, white, black, dark brown, Boston brown, steamed, Swedish, potato, hardtack.

  2. Breadlike foods include: Zwieback, spoon bread, cake, dumpling, turnover, rusk, gem, bun, cookie, English muffin, corn bread, bagel, biscuit, doughnut, muffin, popover, scone, shortbread, hoecake, pone, johnnycake, pancake, waffle, tortilla, Indian bread;

  3. Food

    meal, sustenance, livelihood, bed and board; see food, subsistence 1.

  4. *Money

    cash, dollars, dough*; see money 1.

break bread

partake of food, eat, have a meal; see eat 1.

cast one's bread upon the waters

grant, endow, be generous; see give 1, help 1.

know which side one's bread is buttered on*

be prudent, be shrewd, look out for number one*; see prosper.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

bread Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • bake: Take an early morning stroll to buy freshly baked bread from the local baker in the village square.

Adjective modifier

  • wholemeal: These are found in a range of foods such as meat, fish, eggs, nuts, milk, wholemeal bread and cereals.

Modifies a noun

  • crumb: He enjoys their company - they enjoy his bread crumbs.

Noun used with modifier

  • pitta: Instead of beans use a small tin of chopped tomatoes on the pitta bread.
bread usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

bread quotes

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shall return.

-Bible (Old Testament)

And the children of Israel said unto them,Would to God we had died by thehand of the L in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth to this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

-Bible (Old Testament)

And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that hemight maketheeknow that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the L doth man live.

-Bible (Old Testament)

bread quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"bread." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/bread>

APA Style

bread. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/bread

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