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

Her husband suffers from gout, and doesn’t eat red meat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

It is used to purchase ingredients like meat, chicken or fish.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

"They will head for your meat, your alcohol, your suits, because that's what they'll get the most money for."

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Murillo rang up tortillas, cuts of meat, and three-liter Mexican soda bottles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

With one paw he was pushing his bone—which still had a small bit of meat on it—out and away from him, toward the next circle.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

Servings of processed meats such as ham, sausages and chicken nuggets have been reduced to once a week and must come with a side of vegetables or fruit.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

Food inflation increased 0.1% in the past month, with prices for meats, chicken, fish and eggs all rising, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while prices for food away from home increased 0.3%.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 13, 2026

By pairing freshly sliced deli meats with a tightly run franchise network and a TV-heavy advertising strategy, the New Jersey-born chain has built a formidable growth machine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

These industrially produced foods include soft drinks, packaged cereals, snacks, and processed meats.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

When I got closer to her she lifted both bags and so I picked up the box; it was very heavy, full of glass jars and tins of pickled vegetables and meats.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

Related Words

• food
• foodstuff