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

That bodes well for winter fishing prospects, as saugers are the bread-and-butter of Lake of the Woods’ booming ice fishing industry. —Brad Dokken, Twin Cities, 14 Dec. 2024

Sanders, who caucuses with Senate Democrats, recently criticized the Democratic Party for not putting enough emphasis on bread-and-butter economic issues. —Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 11 Dec. 2024

Noun

Broadcom’s rise, driven by better-than-expected sales of AI networking and custom chips, though welcome, raises questions about whether demand for custom chips challenges the dominance of GPUs, the bread and butter for fellow chip Club stocks Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices . —Paulina Likos, CNBC, 13 Dec. 2024

Relationships are the bread and butter of reality TV. —Lissete Lanuza Sáenz, StyleCaster, 5 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1837, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

1770, in the meaning defined above

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