"bread and butter" meaning in English

See bread and butter in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Interjection

Audio: en-au-bread and butter.ogg
Head templates: {{en-interj}} bread and butter
  1. Said when two people walking together are temporarily separated by an obstacle in order to indicate that they belong together.
    Sense id: en-bread_and_butter-en-intj-f2uZx2EX Categories (other): English coordinated pairs Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 42 27 18 12

Noun

Audio: en-au-bread and butter.ogg
Head templates: {{head|en|noun|uncountable|cat2=uncountable nouns|g=s|g2=p}} bread and butter sg or pl (uncountable)
  1. (idiomatic) That which is central or fundamental, as to one's business, survival, or income; a staple or cornerstone. Tags: idiomatic, plural, singular, uncountable
    Sense id: en-bread_and_butter-en-noun-mJPzHlRO
  2. (idiomatic) The basic requirements of living, such as food and housing. Tags: idiomatic, plural, singular, uncountable
    Sense id: en-bread_and_butter-en-noun-nQ~qhnuo Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English pluralia tantum, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 12 30 41 16 Disambiguation of English pluralia tantum: 18 21 49 12 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 16 22 48 14 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 11 8 64 17
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bread, butter. Tags: plural, singular, uncountable Derived forms: bread-and-butter issue, bread-and-butter letter, bread-and-butter note, bread-and-butter pickle, bread and butter pudding Related terms: bread-and-butter
    Sense id: en-bread_and_butter-en-noun-Lq5ryJjj
{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "noun",
        "3": "uncountable",
        "cat2": "uncountable nouns",
        "g": "s",
        "g2": "p"
      },
      "expansion": "bread and butter sg or pl (uncountable)",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "They will do some machining if you ask them, but sheet metal has always been their bread and butter.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1890, N[athan] H[enry] Chamberlain, chapter I, in What’s the Matter? or, Our Tariff and Its Taxes, Boston, Mass.: De Wolfe, Fiske & Co. […], page 13:",
          "text": "“There’s a big lockout at the foundry.” / “Lockout, what!” cried several. / “Sure as blazes, boys; just when the procession was passin’ I takes a squint at the big foundry door, and there I seen it writ, as clear as sunshine with a hole through it, on a bit o’ paper, that the ould foundry’s shut after Sathurday next, till further notice. Divil a bit less, but I’m shure them’s the very words.” / Silence fell on the crowd in the tobacco smoke. Most of them were foundry-men and had families. Their bread and butter were at stake.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017, Samantha X, Back on Top: Confessions of a High-Class Escort, Hachette, →ISBN:",
          "text": "Every escort has at least one or two regular clients; they are our bread and butter.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "That which is central or fundamental, as to one's business, survival, or income; a staple or cornerstone."
      ],
      "id": "en-bread_and_butter-en-noun-mJPzHlRO",
      "links": [
        [
          "central",
          "central"
        ],
        [
          "fundamental",
          "fundamental"
        ],
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ],
        [
          "survival",
          "survival"
        ],
        [
          "income",
          "income"
        ],
        [
          "staple",
          "staple"
        ],
        [
          "cornerstone",
          "cornerstone"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) That which is central or fundamental, as to one's business, survival, or income; a staple or cornerstone."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "plural",
        "singular",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "12 30 41 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 21 49 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English pluralia tantum",
          "parents": [
            "Pluralia tantum",
            "Nouns",
            "Lemmas"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "16 22 48 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 8 64 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1897, Annual Report, Volume One, Ontario Department of Agriculture:",
          "text": "What the nation, like the man, earns for itself by the honest labor of its people—when a man exerts himself to anything in an honorable calling—he is said to be earning his bread and butter, which includes his food and clothes and house-rent and all the rest of the thing [sic] he pays for. Now, if a man does not earn his bread and butter, he must either have it given to him as a gift, or steal it, as our forefathers nearly all did, honest, good people, too, as they were. ... It is worth while examining as to whether we earn all our bread and butter ... We ought to look after the bread and butter on our farms, and see that we eat the best bread and butter.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The basic requirements of living, such as food and housing."
      ],
      "id": "en-bread_and_butter-en-noun-nQ~qhnuo",
      "links": [
        [
          "requirement",
          "requirement"
        ],
        [
          "living",
          "living"
        ],
        [
          "food",
          "food"
        ],
        [
          "housing",
          "housing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) The basic requirements of living, such as food and housing."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "plural",
        "singular",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 100",
          "word": "bread-and-butter issue"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 100",
          "word": "bread-and-butter letter"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 100",
          "word": "bread-and-butter note"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 100",
          "word": "bread-and-butter pickle"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 100",
          "word": "bread and butter pudding"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1862, George Borrow, Wild Wales:",
          "text": "The bread-and-butter were good enough, but the ale poorish.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1934, P[amela] L[yndon] Travers, “Laughing Gas”, in Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins; 1), London: Gerald Howe Ltd […], →OCLC, page 31:",
          "text": "[I]n the centre stood an enormous table laid for tea—four cups and saucers, piles of bread and butter, crumpets, coconut cakes and a large plum cake with pink icing.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bread, butter."
      ],
      "id": "en-bread_and_butter-en-noun-Lq5ryJjj",
      "links": [
        [
          "bread",
          "bread#English"
        ],
        [
          "butter",
          "butter#English"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 100",
          "word": "bread-and-butter"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "singular",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-bread and butter.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/03/En-au-bread_and_butter.ogg/En-au-bread_and_butter.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/En-au-bread_and_butter.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bread and butter"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "bread and butter",
      "name": "en-interj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "intj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "42 27 18 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English coordinated pairs",
          "parents": [
            "Coordinated pairs",
            "Terms by etymology"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1989, Vergilius Ture Anselm Ferm, Lightning never strikes twice (if you own a feather bed):, page 238:",
          "text": "Should this happen, retrace your steps to the point of separation if you wish to counteract the spell. Or, say the words \"bread and butter.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, William Safire, No Uncertain Terms, page 46:",
          "text": "Peter Bartis, at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, explains, “Bread and butter go together, a sign of unity.” He finds a citation in the seven-volume Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore: “If two persons are walking and they come to ... “When walkers were separated and did not use this phrase or bread and butter,” DARE adds, “it was believed they would have a quarrel.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, James Hilliard, The Doll Show:",
          "text": "\"Bread and butter,\" the larger of the two women quipped as they moved past their Nancy-obstacle. \"Bread and butter!\".",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, D. E. Wittkower, Mr. Monk and Philosophy: The Curious Case of the Defective Detective:",
          "text": "Before Trudy succumbed to her injuries from the bomb that destroyed her car, she uttered the words “bread and butter. Monk tells us that whenever he and Trudy had to part ways, even if only briefly, she would say bread and butter.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Wendy Davis, Forgetting to Be Afraid: A Memoir:",
          "text": "If one of us kids was walking alongside him and we were separated by an object, whether a light pole or a person walking between us, my dad always muttered, “Bread and butter.”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Said when two people walking together are temporarily separated by an obstacle in order to indicate that they belong together."
      ],
      "id": "en-bread_and_butter-en-intj-f2uZx2EX"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-bread and butter.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/03/En-au-bread_and_butter.ogg/En-au-bread_and_butter.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/En-au-bread_and_butter.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bread and butter"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English coordinated pairs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English interjections",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English pluralia tantum",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "bread-and-butter issue"
    },
    {
      "word": "bread-and-butter letter"
    },
    {
      "word": "bread-and-butter note"
    },
    {
      "word": "bread-and-butter pickle"
    },
    {
      "word": "bread and butter pudding"
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "noun",
        "3": "uncountable",
        "cat2": "uncountable nouns",
        "g": "s",
        "g2": "p"
      },
      "expansion": "bread and butter sg or pl (uncountable)",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "bread-and-butter"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "They will do some machining if you ask them, but sheet metal has always been their bread and butter.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1890, N[athan] H[enry] Chamberlain, chapter I, in What’s the Matter? or, Our Tariff and Its Taxes, Boston, Mass.: De Wolfe, Fiske & Co. […], page 13:",
          "text": "“There’s a big lockout at the foundry.” / “Lockout, what!” cried several. / “Sure as blazes, boys; just when the procession was passin’ I takes a squint at the big foundry door, and there I seen it writ, as clear as sunshine with a hole through it, on a bit o’ paper, that the ould foundry’s shut after Sathurday next, till further notice. Divil a bit less, but I’m shure them’s the very words.” / Silence fell on the crowd in the tobacco smoke. Most of them were foundry-men and had families. Their bread and butter were at stake.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017, Samantha X, Back on Top: Confessions of a High-Class Escort, Hachette, →ISBN:",
          "text": "Every escort has at least one or two regular clients; they are our bread and butter.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "That which is central or fundamental, as to one's business, survival, or income; a staple or cornerstone."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "central",
          "central"
        ],
        [
          "fundamental",
          "fundamental"
        ],
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ],
        [
          "survival",
          "survival"
        ],
        [
          "income",
          "income"
        ],
        [
          "staple",
          "staple"
        ],
        [
          "cornerstone",
          "cornerstone"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) That which is central or fundamental, as to one's business, survival, or income; a staple or cornerstone."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "plural",
        "singular",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1897, Annual Report, Volume One, Ontario Department of Agriculture:",
          "text": "What the nation, like the man, earns for itself by the honest labor of its people—when a man exerts himself to anything in an honorable calling—he is said to be earning his bread and butter, which includes his food and clothes and house-rent and all the rest of the thing [sic] he pays for. Now, if a man does not earn his bread and butter, he must either have it given to him as a gift, or steal it, as our forefathers nearly all did, honest, good people, too, as they were. ... It is worth while examining as to whether we earn all our bread and butter ... We ought to look after the bread and butter on our farms, and see that we eat the best bread and butter.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The basic requirements of living, such as food and housing."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "requirement",
          "requirement"
        ],
        [
          "living",
          "living"
        ],
        [
          "food",
          "food"
        ],
        [
          "housing",
          "housing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) The basic requirements of living, such as food and housing."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "plural",
        "singular",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1862, George Borrow, Wild Wales:",
          "text": "The bread-and-butter were good enough, but the ale poorish.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1934, P[amela] L[yndon] Travers, “Laughing Gas”, in Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins; 1), London: Gerald Howe Ltd […], →OCLC, page 31:",
          "text": "[I]n the centre stood an enormous table laid for tea—four cups and saucers, piles of bread and butter, crumpets, coconut cakes and a large plum cake with pink icing.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bread, butter."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "bread",
          "bread#English"
        ],
        [
          "butter",
          "butter#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "singular",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-bread and butter.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/03/En-au-bread_and_butter.ogg/En-au-bread_and_butter.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/En-au-bread_and_butter.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bread and butter"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English coordinated pairs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English interjections",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English pluralia tantum",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "bread and butter",
      "name": "en-interj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "intj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1989, Vergilius Ture Anselm Ferm, Lightning never strikes twice (if you own a feather bed):, page 238:",
          "text": "Should this happen, retrace your steps to the point of separation if you wish to counteract the spell. Or, say the words \"bread and butter.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, William Safire, No Uncertain Terms, page 46:",
          "text": "Peter Bartis, at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, explains, “Bread and butter go together, a sign of unity.” He finds a citation in the seven-volume Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore: “If two persons are walking and they come to ... “When walkers were separated and did not use this phrase or bread and butter,” DARE adds, “it was believed they would have a quarrel.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, James Hilliard, The Doll Show:",
          "text": "\"Bread and butter,\" the larger of the two women quipped as they moved past their Nancy-obstacle. \"Bread and butter!\".",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, D. E. Wittkower, Mr. Monk and Philosophy: The Curious Case of the Defective Detective:",
          "text": "Before Trudy succumbed to her injuries from the bomb that destroyed her car, she uttered the words “bread and butter. Monk tells us that whenever he and Trudy had to part ways, even if only briefly, she would say bread and butter.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Wendy Davis, Forgetting to Be Afraid: A Memoir:",
          "text": "If one of us kids was walking alongside him and we were separated by an object, whether a light pole or a person walking between us, my dad always muttered, “Bread and butter.”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Said when two people walking together are temporarily separated by an obstacle in order to indicate that they belong together."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-bread and butter.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/03/En-au-bread_and_butter.ogg/En-au-bread_and_butter.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/En-au-bread_and_butter.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bread and butter"
}

Download raw JSONL data for bread and butter meaning in English (7.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.