staff of life

Related to staff of life: Bread is the staff of life

staff of life

n. pl. staves of life or staffs of life

A staple or necessary food, especially bread.

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.

staff′ of life′

bread, considered as the mainstay of the human diet.

[1630–40]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

staff of life - food made from dough of flour or meal and usually raised with yeast or baking powder and then baked

bread, breadstuff

starches - foodstuff rich in natural starch (especially potatoes, rice, bread)

flour - fine powdery foodstuff obtained by grinding and sifting the meal of a cereal grain

baked goods - foods (like breads and cakes and pastries) that are cooked in an oven

anadama bread - a yeast-raised bread made of white flour and cornmeal and molasses

bap - a small loaf or roll of soft bread

barmbrack - a rich currant cake or bun

breadstick, bread-stick - a crisp stick-shaped roll; often served with soup

Boston brown bread, brown bread - dark steamed bread made of cornmeal wheat and flour with molasses and soda and milk or water

bun, roll - small rounded bread either plain or sweet

caraway seed bread - bread containing caraway seeds

challah, hallah - (Judaism) a loaf of white bread containing eggs and leavened with yeast; often formed into braided loaves and glazed with eggs before baking

cinnamon bread - bread flavored with cinnamon often containing raisins

cracked-wheat bread - bread made with cracked wheat that has been ground fine

crouton - a small piece of toasted or fried bread; served in soup or salads

brown bread, dark bread, whole meal bread, whole wheat bread - bread made with whole wheat flour

English muffin - round, raised muffin cooked on a griddle; usually split and toasted before being eaten

flatbread - any of various breads made from usually unleavened dough

garlic bread - French or Italian bread sliced and spread with garlic butter then crisped in the oven

gluten bread - bread made with gluten flour

Host - a technical name for the bread used in the service of Mass or Holy Communion

loaf, loaf of bread - a shaped mass of baked bread that is usually sliced before eating

matzah, matzo, matzoh, unleavened bread - brittle flat bread eaten at Passover

naan, nan - leavened bread baked in a clay oven in India; usually shaped like a teardrop

onion bread - bread containing finely minced onions

raisin bread - bread containing raisins

quick bread - breads made with a leavening agent that permits immediate baking

rye bread - any of various breads made entirely or partly with rye flour

salt-rising bread - white wheat bread raised by a salt-tolerant bacterium in a mixture of salt and either cornmeal or potato pulp

simnel - a crisp bread of fine white flour

sour bread, sourdough bread - made with a starter of a small amount of dough in which fermentation is active

toast - slices of bread that have been toasted

wafer - thin disk of unleavened bread used in a religious service (especially in the celebration of the Eucharist)

light bread, white bread - bread made with finely ground and usually bleached wheat flour

sandwich - two (or more) slices of bread with a filling between them

References in classic literature ?

Now, however, return home, and go about among the suitors; begin getting provisions ready for your voyage; see everything well stowed, the wine in jars, and the barley meal, which is the staff of life, in leathern bags, while I go round the town and beat up volunteers at once.

View in context

"In Spanish Florida, corn, not wheat, was the staff of life," says Mormino.

Hungry Hungry History: For one scholar, food offers a window into Florida's past--and present

Morris says storytelling, not bread, is the true staff of life.

Dave Morris comes home Author, editor, prison guard at Chester library May 9 Morris

Targema has struck out a N10 million suit brought against Nigerian Breweries Plc by one Chief Geoffrey Okey Omeh, a former staff of Life Breweries Limited, Onitsha, for lack of jurisdiction.

Industrial Court Strikes Out N10m Suit Against Nigerian Breweries

Eggs are said to signify creation, flour the staff of life, salt represents wholesomeness and milk is for purity.

Iceland launch [pounds sterling]5 Pancake Day offer - you get a pan, batter mixture and a topping of your choice; Pancake Day, also known as Shrove Tuesday, falls on Tuesday, March 5

It doesn't take long for such views to be spread and considered fact in other public places where gossip, true or otherwise, is the staff of life.

Attack was unwarranted; Letters

The Staff of Life. It's with good reason that bread is called "the staff of life." A diet rich in WGs is associated with lower total mortality and death from cardiovascular disease (CVD), a broad category that includes stroke, atrial fibrillation, myocardial ischemia, cardiovascular death, coronary artery disease, and myocardial infarction; all-cause mortality, and mortality from cancers, particularly colorectal cancer.

Whole grains, defined: the elusive definition of whole grains and whole-grain foods, long in the making, may soon be realized, enabling greater global research opportunities and consumer benefits

Flour represents "the staff of life," eggs represent "creation," salt symbolizes "wholesomeness" and milk represents "purity," according to Historic UK.

Quick Facts About Pancake Day Or 'Shrove Tuesday'

The family would like to express their deep gratitude to the entire staff of Life Care Ctr.

Christina F. Valencourt

The Bible may tell us bread is the staff of life but, for those with food intolerances, the average baker's loaf is a recipe for serious illness.

OUR VIEW

Now we pay the greedy privatised water firms an average of pounds 330 a year for "the staff of life" - which falls from the sky for nothing.