bread line

SEE SYNONYMS FOR bread line ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a group of needy persons waiting in line for free food to be distributed by a government agency or charitable organization.

Origin of bread line

First recorded in 1825–35

Words nearby bread line

bread and butter, bread and circuses, bread and honey, bread flour, bread knife, bread line, bread mold, bread mould, bread sauce, bread-and-butter, bread-and-butter letter

Words related to breadline

pauperism

Example sentences from the Web for breadline

  • It seemed brutal to be wading into the bill of fare with poor old Bicky headed for the breadline.

    My Man Jeeves |P. G. Wodehouse

British Dictionary definitions for breadline

breadline
/ (ˈbrɛdˌlaɪn) /

noun

a queue of people waiting for free food given out by a government agency or a charity organization
on the breadline impoverished; living at subsistence level