bread and butter

bread and butter (1) {n. phr.}

The usual needs of life; food, shelter, and clothing.

Ed earned his bread and butter as a bookkeeper, but added a little jam by working with a dance band on weekends.

Categories:

Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms

To section: B

Subscribe to: American Idioms

✉

Our RSS-channels

Show All

See as well

bread and butter

[bread and butter] (2) {adj.} Thanking someone for entertainment or a nice visit; thank-you. * /After spending the weekend as a guest in the Jones' home, Alice wrote the Joneses […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

bread and butter

[bread and butter] (3) {interj.}, {informal} Spoken to prevent bad luck that you think might result from some action. * /We'd say "Bread and butter!" when we had passed on […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

bread-and-butter letter

[bread-and-butter letter] {n.} A written acknowledgment of hospitality received. * /Jane wrote the Browns a bread-and-butter letter when she returned home from her visit to them./ A Dictionary of American Idioms

butter

[butter] See: [BREAD AND BUTTER]. A Dictionary of American Idioms

Recent updates

James Albery's epitaph for himself

(1838-1889) He slept beneath the moon He basked beneath the sun; He lived a life of going-to-do, And died with nothing […]

мотать на ус

[мотать на ус] {v. phr.} {informal} [mo`tat' na us] {literally} to reel/wind smt. on one's moustache. To take a […]

pass

[pass] See: [BRING TO PASS], [COME TO PASS], [FORWARD PASS], [JUMP PASS], [SCREEN PASS].

at one's fingertips

[at one's fingertips] {adv. phr.} 1. Within easy reach; quickly touched; nearby. * /Seated in the cockpit, the pilot of a […]