take the bread out of (one's) mouth
To steal or deprive people of their basic means of living. Everyone loves these giant retail chains for their low prices, but few care that they take the bread out of local business owners' mouths. The new president has been contriving ways to take the bread out of our mouths day after day, and here you are defending her!
take the bread out of someone's mouth
Deprive someone of his or her livelihood, as in Lowering wages is taking the bread out of the workers' mouths. [c. 1700]