Bread

Bread, bred, n. food made of flour or meal baked: food: livelihood.—ns. Bread′-bas′ket, a basket for holding bread: (slang) the stomach; Bread′-chip′per (Shak.), one who chips bread, an under-butler; Bread′-corn, corn of which bread is made.—n.pl. Bread′-crumbs, bread crumbled down for dressing dishes of fried fish, &c.—n. Bread′fruit-tree, a tree of the South Sea Islands, producing a fruit which, when roasted, forms a good substitute for bread; Bread′-nut, the fruit of a tree, a native of Jamaica, closely allied to the breadfruit-tree, which is used as bread when boiled or roasted; Bread′-room, an apartment in a ship's hold where the bread is kept; Bread′-root, a herbaceous perennial plant of North America, with a carrot-like root which is used as food; Bread′-stud′y, any branch of study taken up as a means of gaining a living; Bread′-stuff, the various kinds of grain or flour of which bread is made; Bread′-tree, a tree of South Africa which has a great deal of starch in its stem, and is used as bread by the natives; Bread′-win′ner, one who earns a living for a family.—Bread buttered on both sides, very fortunate circumstances.—To take the bread out of one's mouth, to deprive of the means of living. [A.S. bréad, prob. from a Teut. root meaning a fragment, like the Scot. and Norse country use of 'a piece,' for a bit of bread. The usual A.S. word was hláf.]