staff of life

staff of life
noun
food made from dough of flour or meal and usually raised with yeast or baking powder and then baked
• Syn: ↑bread, ↑breadstuff
• Derivationally related forms: ↑bread (for: ↑bread)
• Hypernyms: ↑baked goods, ↑starches
• Hyponyms:
• Part Holonyms: ↑sandwich
• Substance Meronyms: ↑flour

* * *

: a staple of diet; especially : bread

produced a staff of life about two feet in length, and cut off a good thick slice for each of them — C.B.Fairbanks

* * *

bread, considered as the mainstay of the human diet.
[1630-40]

* * *

staff of life noun
Staple food, esp bread
• • •
Main Entry: ↑staff

* * *

staff of life,
1. bread: »

The staff of life is frequently of such spongy substance that it is incapable of giving much support (New York Times).

2. any basic or staple food: »

Water [for geese] is their staff of life (Punch). Broad beans form one of the staves of life in Sicily (D. Sladen).

* * *

staff of life — see ↑staff, 1
• • •
Main Entry: ↑life
————————
staff of life
literary : a basic food; especially : ↑bread
• • •
Main Entry: ↑staff

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • staff of life — staff′ of life′ n. bread, considered as the mainstay of the human diet • Etymology: 1630–40 …   From formal English to slang

  • staff of life — n. bread, regarded as the basic food …   English World dictionary

  • The staff of life — Staff Staff (st[.a]f), n.; pl. {Staves} (st[=a]vz or st[aum]vz; 277) or {Staffs} (st[.a]fs) in senses 1 9, {Staffs} in senses 10, 11. [AS. st[ae]f a staff; akin to LG. & D. staf, OFries. stef, G. stab, Icel. stafr, Sw. staf, Dan. stav, Goth.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • staff of life — Date: 1638 a staple of diet; especially bread …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • staff of life — bread, considered as the mainstay of the human diet. [1630 40] * * * …   Universalium

  • staff of life — noun Bread, or some other staple foodstuff …   Wiktionary

  • staff of life — Synonyms and related words: French bread, Irish soda bread, Italian bread, black bread, bread, bread stick, bread stuff, brown bread, cracked wheat bread, crust, dark bread, garlic bread, graham bread, loaf of bread, matzo, matzoth, nut bread,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • the staff of life — ► the staff of life a staple food or usual sustenance. Main Entry: ↑staff …   English terms dictionary

  • (the) staff of life — literary a food such as bread that is eaten in large amounts by a lot of people. Bread is the staff of life, which is why we only use the finest organic flour to make ours …   New idioms dictionary

  • (the) staff of life — the ˌstaff of ˈlife idiom (literary) a basic food, especially bread Main entry: ↑staffidiom …   Useful english dictionary

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