bread
Definition
A staple food made from flour, water, and usually yeast, mixed into dough and baked; (informal) money.
To remember it
Picture the sun shining through a slice of bread, and think of how the sun nourishes plants like these sunflowers. This shows that just as the sun provides energy for plants, bread nourishes us.
Examples
- A1
She bought a loaf of bread at the bakery on her way home from work.
- A1
Would you like some bread and butter with your soup?
- A2
He learned to bake his own bread during lockdown and now makes a sourdough loaf every weekend.
- A2
In many cultures, offering bread to guests is a traditional symbol of hospitality and welcome.
- B1
Sourdough bread — leavened by a fermented starter culture rather than commercial yeast — has a distinctive tangy flavour and a denser, chewier texture than standard sliced bread.
- B1
The Maillard reaction — a chemical process between amino acids and sugars that occurs when bread is baked — is responsible for the golden-brown crust and the complex flavours that develop as the loaf cooks.
- B2
The industrialisation of bread production in the twentieth century — replacing artisan bakers with large-scale mechanised bakeries — dramatically reduced the cost and extended the shelf life of bread, but also produced a product that critics argue is nutritionally inferior and flavourless compared to traditional artisan loaves.
- B2
The price of bread has served throughout history as a barometer of social stability: bread riots — civil disturbances triggered by sudden increases in the price or scarcity of this dietary staple — have been a recurring feature of pre-industrial and developing economies.
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