English

Adjective

bread-and-butter ‎(comparative more bread-and-butter, superlative most bread-and-butter)

1. Used other than as an idiom: see bread,‎ and,‎ butter.

   bread-and-butter pudding

2. Relating to basic sustenance or the requirements for everyday living.
   • 2015, Robert Crane, ‎Christopher Fryer, Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father's Unsolved Murder (page 34)

     These road warrior plays were fronted by former semistars like Forrest Tucker or Hugh O'Brian, who had had their bread-and-butter TV shows cancelled. The job could pay $3,000 to $5,000 a week […]

Interjection

bread-and-butter

1. (archaic) A general saying used to ward off bad luck
2. (archaic) A saying specifically used to ward off bad luck when separating hands to walk either side of a tree

Derived terms