ENGLISH
REFERENCE

take the bread out of someone's mouth

idiom
Meaning

To deprive someone of the means of living.


Examples
SIMPLE

Closing this shop will take the bread out of our mouths.

CONTEXTUAL

If the company moves all its production overseas, it will effectively take the bread out of the mouths of local workers.

COMPLEX

By aggressively undercutting his competitors' prices, the merchant sought to drive them out of business and take the bread out of their families' mouths.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    a little bit of bread and no cheese

    Used to represent the song of the yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella).

  2. 02

    all mouth and no trousers

    Alternative form of all mouth and trousers.

  3. 03

    all mouth and trousers

    Superficial, engaging in empty, boastful talk, but not of real substance.

  4. 04

    all one's taste is in one's mouth

    One lacks good taste in aesthetic or cultural matters.

  5. 05

    another nail in someone's coffin

    An event that increases the likelihood of or causes further failure.

  6. 06

    answer someone's prayers

    To be or do exactly what someone has been wishing or asking for.

  7. 07

    answer to someone's prayers

    Exactly what someone has been wishing or asking for.

  8. 08

    apple of someone's eye

    The object of somebody's affections; a person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers; a favorite, a loved one.

Last updated July 12, 2026