breadline

Meaning

1. (US) A line of people waiting to receive food from a charity.
2. (British, figuratively) The lowest income level at which one's most basic necessities of survival are met; poverty line or subsistence level.

Synonyms

bread line

poverty line

Translations

fila

Armutsgrenze

seuil de pauvreté

línia de pobresa

soglia di povertà

linha da pobreza

umbral de la pobreza

Etymology

From bread + line. In sense 2, referring to the income level at which one can afford to buy bread, a staple food.