Sweetbread \Sweet"bread`\, n. 1. Either the thymus gland or the pancreas, the former being called {neck, or throat, sweetbread}, the latter {belly sweetbread}. The sweetbreads of ruminants, esp. of the calf, are highly esteemed as food. See {Pancreas}, and {Thymus}. 2. (Anat.) The pancreas.