to take the bread out of one's mouth
01
to deprive people of their most basic means of living, particularly via unfair mathods
![to [take] the bread out of {one's} mouth definition and meaning](https://cdn.langeek.co/photo/46370/original/?type=jpeg "to [take] the bread out of {one's} mouth definition and meaning")
Disapproving
Idiom
Informal
例
The decision to ban street vendors took the bread out of the mouths of many people.
The company's sudden decision to downsize took the bread out of many employees' mouths, leaving them unemployed and struggling to find new jobs.
