breakfast
gb/bɹˈɛkfəst/ us/bɹˈɛkfəst/
A1
English
~ 2100
Senses
0 senses
Noun
A1
entity
1
morning meal
The first food and drink you have in the morning.
Usage pattern:
to have [breakfast]
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse 'breakfast' with 'brunch', but brunch is a late morning meal that combines breakfast and lunch.
Synonyms
morning meal (A direct descriptive synonym, less common in everyday use.)
Antonyms
dinner (In a daily meal context, dinner is the main evening meal, opposite in time to breakfast.)
Collocations
have breakfast
|eat breakfast
|make breakfast
|skip breakfast
|continental breakfast
Themes
daily life
|food
|food_drink
|daily_life
Examples
- I usually have toast and coffee for breakfast.
- They served a big breakfast at the hotel.
- Skipping breakfast can make you feel tired later.
- We met for breakfast at a café downtown.
Learner examples
- I eat bread for breakfast.
- She drinks tea at breakfast.
- We have eggs for breakfast.
- They eat breakfast at 7 a.m.
Verb
B2
action
2
to eat breakfast
To have food in the morning.
Usage pattern:
to breakfast on [something]
Common mistake:
Many learners are unaware that 'breakfast' can be used as a verb, as it is much less common than the noun form.
Synonyms
dine (in the morning) (More formal and less common; 'dine' is usually used for lunch or dinner.)
Antonyms
fast (To not eat, especially for a period of time.)
Collocations
breakfast on cereal
|breakfast together
Themes
daily life
|food
|food_drink
|daily_life
Examples
- We breakfasted on fresh fruit and yogurt.
- They prefer to breakfast early before going to work.
- On Sundays, we often breakfast together as a family.
Learner examples
- I breakfast on bread and milk.
- They breakfast at home.
- We breakfast before school.
Grammar
Dictionary form
breakfast
IPA
GB/bɹˈɛkfəst/
US/bɹˈɛkfəst/
Syllables & stress
break - fast (2 syllables)
Stress on 1st syllable (break)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: breakfast
- Plural: breakfast, breakfasts
Verb
- Base: breakfast
- 3rd Person Singular: breakfasts
- Present Participle: breakfasting
- Past: breakfasted
Word family
Forms
breakfasts
noun
breakfasting
verb
breakfasted
verb
Related words
brunch
noun
Expressions
breakfast in bed
1/bɹˈɛkfəst ˈɪn bˈɛd/
fixed phrase
eating breakfast in bed
Eating your morning food while still in bed.
Examples
- She surprised him with breakfast in bed on his birthday.
- I love having breakfast in bed on weekends.
have breakfast
1/hˈæv bɹˈɛkfəst/
fixed phrase
to eat breakfast
To eat food in the morning.
Examples
- I usually have breakfast at 7 a.m.
- She didn’t have breakfast today because she was late.
skip breakfast
1/skˈɪp bɹˈɛkfəst/
fixed phrase
to not eat breakfast
To not eat food in the morning.
Examples
- He often skips breakfast when he’s busy.
- Skipping breakfast can leave you feeling hungry before lunch.
continental breakfast
1/kˌɑntənˈɛntəl bɹˈɛkfəst/
fixed phrase
light European-style breakfast
A small breakfast with bread or pastries and a drink like coffee or tea, usually served in hotels, with no cooked food like eggs or bacon.
Examples
- The hotel offers a free continental breakfast for guests.
- The hotel offers a free continental breakfast every morning.
- A continental breakfast usually includes coffee and croissants.
- We only had time for a quick continental breakfast before the meeting.
- Coffee, juice, and croissants were included in the continental breakfast.