Breadcrumbs or bread crumbs (regional variants: breading, crispies) are small particles of dry bread

Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...

, which are used for breading

Breading

Breading is a dry grain-derived food coating for a piece of food such as meat, vegetable, poultry, fish, shellfish, crustacean, seitan, or textured soy, made from breadcrumbs or a breading mixture with seasonings. Breading can also refer to the process of applying a bread-like coating to a food...

 or crumbing foods, topping casserole

Casserole

A casserole, from the French for "saucepan", is a large, deep dish used both in the oven and as a serving vessel. The word casserole is also used for the food cooked and served in such a vessel, with the cookware itself called a casserole dish or casserole pan...

s, stuffing

Stuffing

In cooking, stuffing or filling is an edible substance or mixture, often a starch, used to fill a cavity in another food item...

 poultry

Poultry

Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...

, thickening

Thickening

In cooking, thickening is the process of increasing the viscosity of a liquid either by reduction, or by the addition of a thickening agent, typically containing starch....

 stew

Stew

A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables , meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef. Poultry, sausages, and seafood are also used...

s, and adding inexpensive bulk to meatloaves

Meatloaf

Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat formed into a loaf shape and baked or smoked. The loaf shape is formed by either cooking it in a loaf pan, or forming it by hand on a flat baking pan...

 and similar foods. They are documented in cookbooks as early as 1716. They are not to be confused with simple cubed, dried bread or croutons, because breadcrumbs are much smaller in size, akin to the size of common ants.

However, the crumb of bread is also a term that refers to the texture of the inner soft part of a loaf of bread, as distinguished from the crust, or "skin".

Dry breadcrumbs are made from very dry bread which has been baked or toasted to remove most remaining moisture, and may have a sandy or even powdery texture. They can be used to make a crisp and crunchy coating for fried foods. The breads used to make soft or fresh bread crumbs are not quite as dry, so the crumbs are larger and produce a softer coating, crust, or stuffing. Bread crumbs are most easily produced by pulverizing slices of bread in a food processor

Food processor

A food processor is a kitchen appliance used to facilitate various repetitive tasks in the process of preparation of food. Today, the term almost always refers to an electric-motor-driven appliance, although there are some manual devices also referred to as "food processors".Food processors are...

, using a steel blade to make coarse crumbs, or a grating blade to make fine crumbs. A grater

Grater

A grater is a kitchen utensil used to grate foods into fine pieces. It was invented by François Boullier in the 1540s.-Uses:...

or similar tool will also do.