meal ticket

American  

noun

1. a ticket that entitles the bearer to meals in a specified restaurant, especially when meals purchased in this manner are offered at reduced rates.

2. Informal. someone upon whom one is dependent for one's income or livelihood.

   selfish children who look upon their father only as a meal ticket.

3. Informal. something, as an object or ability possessed by a person, that is necessary to that person's livelihood.

   The radio announcer's voice was his meal ticket.

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meal ticket British  

noun

1. slang a person, situation, etc, providing a source of livelihood or income

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meal ticket Idioms  

1. A person or thing depended on as a source of income, as in Magic Johnson was a real meal ticket for his team, or Her interpersonal skills will be her meal ticket when she goes into sales. This metaphoric expression alludes to the earlier practice of handing out tickets that entitle their holder to a meal. [Early 1900s]

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Etymology

Origin of meal ticket

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example Sentences

I went back to law school on my way out of my first marriage because I needed a meal ticket.

From Scientific American • Sep. 28, 2023

She needs trustworthy people around her who work for her and don’t see her as a meal ticket.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 4, 2022

She encountered her promoter, King, sitting by himself after watching his meal ticket chomp his career into pieces.

From Washington Times • Jun. 29, 2022

He said, “Son, you know what? You’ve got a meal ticket for life here.”

From New York Times • Jun. 8, 2022

Food had become so scarce that each prisoner was issued a monthly meal ticket, which was punched when he went through the food line to prevent the possibility of someone going through the line twice.

From "Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps" by Andrea Warren