Hardtack

Alternative forms

• hard tack

Full definition of hardtack

Noun

1. (nautical) A large, hard biscuit made from unleavened flour and water; formerly used as a long-term staple food aboard ships.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 8, Philander went into the next room...and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.

Synonyms

• (hard biscuit) pilot biscuit, pilot bread, sea biscuit, sea bread, ship's biscuit, ship biscuit