n. & v.
--n.
1. baked dough made of flour usu. leavened with yeast and moistened, eaten as a staple food.
2 a necessary food. b (also daily bread) one's livelihood.
3 sl. money.
--v.tr. coat with breadcrumbs for cooking.
Phrases and idioms:
bread and butter 1 bread spread with butter.
2 a one's livelihood. b routine work to ensure an income. bread-and-butter letter a letter of thanks for hospitality. bread and circuses the public provision of subsistence and entertainment. bread and wine the Eucharist.
bread basket
1. a basket for bread or rolls.
2 sl. the stomach. bread bin a container for keeping bread in. bread sauce a white sauce thickened with breadcrumbs. cast one's bread upon the waters do good without expecting gratitude or reward. know which side one's bread is buttered know where one's advantage lies. take the bread out of a person's mouth take away a person's living, esp. by competition etc.
Etymology: OE bread f. Gmc