bread line

or bread·line

[ bred-lahyn ]

noun
  1. 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

1
First recorded in 1895–1900

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bread line in a sentence

  • 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
  1. a queue of people waiting for free food given out by a government agency or a charity organization

  2. on the breadline impoverished; living at subsistence level

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012