bread·line

also bread line (brĕd′līn′)

A line of people waiting to receive food given by a charitable organization or public agency.

Idioms:

below the breadline

Extremely poor.

on the breadline

Dependent on public donations of food.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bread′ line`

a line of people waiting for free food to be distributed by a government agency or charitable organization.

[1825–35]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

bread line - a queue of people waiting for free food

breadline

queue, waiting line - a line of people or vehicles waiting for something

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

Bread line - creative commons image via flickr - James Buck CAIRO - 22 May 2019: Minister of Religious Endowments (Awqaf) Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa announced allocating LE 300 million ($17.71 million) for the neediest villages and the Education Support Fund.

Awqaf Ministry allocates LE 300 M for neediest villages, education support

Figures show that more than 7,000 children were living below the bread line in Aberdeenshire last year.

Councillors back poverty plan

in a bread line. A horde scored my tongue, broke bones, jabbed needles in the quick of my nails.

Balsero

The decision taken not to pull the rug from under hundreds of thousands of people who are on the bread line, despite the fact that they are working for a living, was the right one.

You're on the money ... SUNDAY SHOUT

Their irresponsible decision-making impacts on the living standards of those often struggling to make the bread line and their families.

WE SAY

The Invisible Chef's popular Bake-It-Quick Bread line got a fresh, new box design and style that will complete the cleaner look they previously launched with the Coffee & Tea Cakes Collection last year.

The Invisible Chef Launches New Products, Fresh Packaging

We are paying for these clowns, while we live on the bread line.

Word on the web

True by pre-war standards the price was exorbitant but at least we can be together even though we are only just managing to keep off the bread line.

Take the jump and buy a house; LETTER FROM THE PAST

On our website, Debbie Bell posted: "Good - too many people suffering from this and it's never the rich that get targeted, it's the people on the bread line which pushes our kids further into poverty."

@dailyrecord

The company's latest stage of this investment is the opening of a new bread line at its Walthamstow plant.

Allied Bakeries is officially number two

Member Mark Johns, 29, said the changes, which charge council tenants extra for any "empty" bedrooms they may have, would force people off the bread line and into outright poverty.

PROTESTERS MAKE THEIR POINT ON 'TAX'

Premier Foods agreed to sell the business in late October in a drive to focus efforts on its grocery business and on building value in its bread line.

Premier Foods closes sale of sweet pickles and table sauces business to Mizkan