breadbasket

noun

bread·​bas·​ket ˈbred-ˌba-skət 

1

: a region that is a major producer of grain crops (such as wheat)

2

slang : stomach

Did you know?

Breadbasket has been used as slang in English since at least the mid-1700s. (It has been used even longer to mean literally a basket for holding bread.) It can refer to the stomach as an actual digestive organ ("his breadbasket rumbled with hunger"), but these days it's more commonly applied to the general stomach area ("rested her hands on her breadbasket"). No one is quite sure of the exact origins of the use, but it’s likely that there’s some connection between the basket used to hold bread and the basket where the bread ends up after a person eats it. Breadbasket has also come to refer to an area that supplies an important amount of grain ("the breadbasket of the country").

Synonyms of breadbasket

• stomach
• abdomen
• belly

Examples of breadbasket in a Sentence

the breadbasket of the world

The area is becoming the nation's breadbasket.

Recent Examples on the Web

The plentiful bounty was yielded by the land’s nutrient-rich black soil, which earned Ukraine its reputation as the breadbasket of the world. — Dominique Soguel, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Nov. 2026

The market reminds visitors that just beyond the city’s harbor and highways, New England’s small towns and pastoral farms serve as the breadbasket for Boston’s growing farm-to-table movement. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Sep. 2026

Drought has also spread across the nation’s breadbasket, where staple wheat crops that are typically used to make all-purpose flour or pasta have withered for lack of rain. — Bloomberg, Oc Register, 27 May 2026

The Capital Grille is offering a two course Mother's Day brunch that includes blueberry breadbasket for the table. — Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 4 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1753, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for breadbasket

• wastebasket
• basket
• casket
• gasket
• mascot

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Kids Definition

breadbasket

noun

bread·​bas·​ket ˈbred-ˌbas-kət 

1

: a major cereal-producing region

2

slang : stomach entry 1 sense 1