hardtack

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Cramped inside vessels overladen with precious cargo, crewmembers subsisted on a miserable diet of hardtack, an unleavened bread, and salted meat and fish that routinely spoiled and left many gravely ill.

From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026

Wartime museums display the bland hardtack that sustained Civil War fighters, and the canned meats, breads and fruit of World War II, known as C rations.

From New York Times • Jun. 8, 2021

In the first they sample decades old corn chips, century-old Civil War hardtack and then freshen up with 100-year-old tooth powder.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2020

Some sailors use pilot bread — a thick, crackerlike item similar to Colonial-era hardtack, which doesn’t go stale — to settle their stomachs.

From Washington Post • Nov. 1, 2018

Cooky and Aly loaded them with enough provisions to fill their packs to the point of overflowing: smoked meats, dried fruit with supple flesh, and enough hardtack to last for weeks.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee