meat

American  

[meet] / mit /

noun

meats plural

1. the flesh of animals as used for food: in particular, mammals, especially livestock and game, and often including poultry and game birds.

2. the edible part of anything, as a fruit or nut.

   Crack the walnuts and remove the meats.

3. the essential point or part of an argument, literary work, etc.; gist; crux.

   The meat of the play is the jealousy between the two brothers.

4. solid food.

   meat and drink.

5. solid or substantial content; pith.

   The article was full of meat, with few wasted words.

6. a favorite occupation, activity, etc..

   Chess is his meat.

7. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. pork, especially bacon.

8. Slang: Vulgar. penis.

9. Archaic. the principal meal.

   to say grace before meat.

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idioms

1. piece of meat,

   1. a person regarded merely as a sex object.

      Years after winning a beauty pageant, she denounced the competition, saying she’d been crowned the judges’ favorite piece of meat.

   2. a person, as a prizefighter or laborer, regarded merely as a strong or useful physical specimen.

      The trainer never apologized for referring to his boxers as pieces of meat—if you made it to the top, he’d start calling you “Kid.”

meat British  

/ miːt /

noun

1. the flesh of mammals used as food, as distinguished from that of birds and fish

2. anything edible, esp flesh with the texture of meat

   crab meat

3. food, as opposed to drink

4. the essence or gist

5. an archaic word for meal 1

6. a source of pleasure

7. informal to lose nothing because one's offer is not accepted

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meat More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing meat

• beat the meat
• one's man's meat is another man's poison

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• meatless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• meats
  plural

Etymology

Origin of meat

First recorded before 900; Middle English mete, met, methe “food, nourishment, sustenance,” Old English mete, mett, “food,” cognate with Old High German maz, Old Norse matr, Gothic mats

Explanation

Use meat to mean any food that comes from the flesh of an animal. Bacon is meat. Cupcakes are not meat. You can refer to hamburgers, pork chops, and barbecued ribs as meat. It's okay to call chicken and turkey meat too, although formally it's known as poultry, while the flesh of fish is simply called fish. Sometimes the edible part of a nut is also called meat, although it's 100 percent vegetarian. If your grandmother thinks you're too skinny, she may feed you "to put some meat on your bones." In Old English, mete was just "food."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

meat meats

It remains unclear when all the meat will be removed, but the company is taking steps to mitigate the odor by wrapping most of the building in a temporary material and using misting systems.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

While energy prices fell last month, food price inflation increased further, with the cost of meat, poultry, fish and eggs going up, along with dairy products and cereals.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

To identify the predator, the researchers compared the embedded tooth with those of every known meat eating dinosaur from the Hell Creek Formation.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026

And if meat must be produced ever more quickly, surely it should also be consumed with maximum celerity?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

I nearly froze— just a piece of meat on the back of the sled—but they ran and ran in a kind of glory and even now I can’t quite believe it.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

Chef and co-owner Danny Castillo has earned national acclaim for his Texas-style smoked brisket, chickens, sausages and other meats informed by the ethnic backgrounds of his crew — white, Mexican, Argentine, Filipino and others.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026

Everyone is allergic to beef and other meats such as pork, lamb and venison, but not to non-mammal meats such as poultry or fish.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

Skip processed meats such as bacon, ham, or sausages.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 21, 2026

Once seated, expect a steady stream of pão de queijo, fried bananas and tableside-carved meats delivered by roaming gaúchos.

From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026

In the diet of the average home, meats and any products derived from animal fats contain the heaviest residues of chlorinated hydrocarbons.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Related Words

• food
• foodstuff