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

The group, first backed by the local laborers’ union in 2024, is primarily advocating for bread-and-butter benefits. —Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025

And Democrats have to stay razor-focused on the bread-and-butter and macaroni-and-cheese issues, not just the macro, the macro issues. —NBC news, 24 Aug. 2025

Noun

Fox’s bread and butter is live news and sports, areas defined by things like expensive rights battles where scale is crucial; additional sports acquisitions or buys of smaller cable assets could be smart plays. —Andy Meek, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025

Misalignments of the Metroidvania formula Once perfected, the combat encounters and extra hard challenges become the game’s bread and butter. —Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 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