bread-and-butter

1 of 2

adjective

bread-and-but·​ter ˈbred-ən(d)-ˈbə-tər 

1

a

: being as basic as the earning of one's livelihood

bread-and-butter issues

b(1)

: reliable

our bread-and-butter repertoire

(2)

: dependable as a source of income

a company's bread-and-butter products

2

: sent or given as thanks for hospitality

a bread-and-butter letter

bread and butter

2 of 2

noun

: a means of sustenance or livelihood

Examples of bread-and-butter in a Sentence

Noun

Casual clothing has always been the company's bread and butter.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

This spring, explore an array of hotel spas with robust health and wellness programming extending beyond bread-and-butter facial and massages. —Kate Donnelly, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2025

His campaign for the chancellery has largely focused on bread-and-butter issues like tax cuts, deregulation and incentives to work. —Sophie Tanno, CNN, 16 Feb. 2025

Noun

Among our portfolio companies, online ads are the bread and butter of Meta Platforms and Alphabet — both of which could face some headwinds. —Paulina Likos, CNBC, 12 Feb. 2025

Musk’s activism does seem to be turning off the affluent or middle-income progressive crowd that was traditionally Tesla’s bread and butter. —Patrick George, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1837, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

1770, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bread-and-butter

• kilometre
• butter
• clutter
• cutter
• flutter
• gutter
• mutter
• nutter
• putter
• rutter
• shutter
• sputter

Kids Definition

bread-and-butter

adjective

ˌbred-ᵊn-ˈbət-ər

1

a

: concerned with or being as basic as earning a living

bread-and-butter economic issues

b

: dependable

bread-and-butter products that always sell

2

: sent or given as thanks for hospitality

a bread-and-butter note