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 includes Ciarrocca’s bread-and-butter RPO (run/pass option) scheme, which led to Kaliakmanis scoring two rushing touchdowns in a 38-28 home loss to Iowa on Friday. —Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 22 Sep. 2025

The collaboration unveiled Thursday will see Intel develop its bread-and-butter central processors to pair with Nvidia’s cutting-edge graphics processing units (GPUs) in the latter’s AI server racks. —Paulina Likos, CNBC, 19 Sep. 2025

Noun

Literary adaptations have been cinema’s bread and butter as long as the second medium has existed. —Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 23 Sep. 2025

The theme trickles down to accessories, MCM’s bread and butter, with judo belts wrapped around its signature handbags, which double up as shoulders straps. —Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 23 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