1. [n]  food made from dough of flour or meal and usually raised with yeast or baking powder and then baked
2. [n]  informal terms for money
3. [v]  cover with bread crumbs, as of pork chops

1. \Bread\, v. t. [AS. br[ae]dan to make broad, to spread.
   See {Broad}, a.]
   To spread. [Obs.] --Ray.
   
   

2. \Bread\, n. [AS. bre['a]d; akin to OFries. br[=a]d, OS.
   br?d, D. brood, G. brod, brot, Icel. brau?, Sw. & Dan.
   br["o]d. The root is probably that of E. brew. ? See {Brew}.]
   1. An article of food made from flour or meal by moistening,
      kneading, and baking.
   
   Note:
   
   {Raised bread} is made with yeast, salt, and sometimes a
      little butter or lard, and is mixed with warm milk or
      water to form the dough, which, after kneading, is given
      time to rise before baking.
   
   {Cream of tartar bread} is raised by the action of an
      alkaline carbonate or bicarbonate (as saleratus or
      ammonium bicarbonate) and cream of tartar (acid tartrate
      of potassium) or some acid.
   
   {Unleavened bread} is usually mixed with water and salt only.
   
   {A["e]rated bread}. See under {A["e]rated}.
   
   {Bread and butter} (fig.), means of living.
   
   {Brown bread}, {Indian bread}, {Graham bread}, {Rye and
   Indian bread}. See {Brown bread}, under {Brown}.
   
   {Bread tree}. See {Breadfruit}.
   
   2. Food; sustenance; support of life, in general.
   
            Give us this day our daily bread.     --Matt. vi. 11
   
   

3. \Bread\, v. t. (Cookery)
   To cover with bread crumbs, preparatory to cooking; as,
   breaded cutlets.
   
   

among the Jews was generally made of wheat (Ex. 29:2; Judg. 6:19), though also sometimes of other grains (Gen. 14:18; Judg. 7:13). Parched grain was sometimes used for food without any other preparation (Ruth 2:14).

Bread was prepared by kneading in wooden bowls or "kneading troughs" (Gen. 18:6; Ex. 12:34; Jer. 7:18). The dough was mixed with leaven and made into thin cakes, round or oval, and then baked. The bread eaten at the Passover was always unleavened (Ex. 12:15-20; Deut. 16:3). In the towns there were public ovens, which were much made use of for baking bread; there were also bakers by trade (Hos. 7:4; Jer. 37:21). Their ovens were not unlike those of modern times. But sometimes the bread was baked by being placed on the ground that had been heated by a fire, and by covering it with the embers (1 Kings 19:6). This was probably the mode in which Sarah prepared bread on the occasion referred to in Gen. 18:6.

In Lev. 2 there is an account of the different kinds of bread and cakes used by the Jews. (See BAKE.)

The shew-bread (q.v.) consisted of twelve loaves of unleavened bread prepared and presented hot on the golden table every Sabbath. They were square or oblong, and represented the twelve tribes of Israel. The old loaves were removed every Sabbath, and were to be eaten only by the priests in the court of the sanctuary (Ex. 25:30; Lev. 24:8; 1 Sam. 21:1-6; Matt. 12:4).

The word bread is used figuratively in such expressions as "bread of sorrows" (Ps. 127:2), "bread of tears" (80:5), i.e., sorrow and tears are like one's daily bread, they form so great a part in life. The bread of "wickedness" (Prov. 4:17) and "of deceit" (20:17) denote in like manner that wickedness and deceit are a part of the daily life.