breadwinner

noun

bread·​win·​ner ˈbred-ˌwi-nər 

plural breadwinners

1

: a member of a family whose wages supply the family's principal or only means of support

the main/primary/sole breadwinner in the family

… many more households have two breadwinners, making it unlikely that there will be someone home all afternoon to cook.

—Mark Bittman

2

: a means (such as a tool, craft, or activity) of livelihood : a way of earning income

Crop diversity kept the overall value of Montana agriculture strong even as wheat, the state agriculture's breadwinner, faltered.

—Tom Lutey

Catfish farming has become the breadwinner industry for many families in west Alabama …

—Robert Dewitt and Benita D. Newton

breadwinning

ˈbred-ˌwi-niŋ 

noun

Examples of breadwinner in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Yet, as the podcast makes clear, the pressures of fame and the burden of being his family’s primary breadwinner took a toll. —William Earl, Variety, 1 Aug. 2025

And because Moore was the breadwinner of the family, the GoFundMe is meant to help Marquez and her family get back on their feet. —Elizabeth B. Kim, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025

Even women who are the breadwinner of their family see their income suffer after giving birth. —Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 16 June 2025

Women who live longer are increasingly the primary breadwinners, and often inherit from spouses and parents, and are expected to control two-thirds of that wealth by 2030, totaling more than $30 trillion in U.S. assets alone. —Shelley Zalis, Forbes.com, 24 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1614, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for breadwinner

• beginner
• dinner
• inner
• pinner
• sinner
• spinner
• thinner
• tinner
• winner

Kids Definition

breadwinner

noun

bread·​win·​ner ˈbred-ˌwin-ər 

: a person whose wages provide support for his or her family