meat

American  

[meet] / mit /

noun

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

• meatless adjective

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

Example Sentences

Cooked on a stone slate -- or in a hot pot with vegetables -- the meat comes from bears culled to curb maulings that have killed a record 13 people this year.

From Barron's

The dictator was in a jovial mood and the two spoke for four hours, dining on black bread, potato pancakes and an array of meats.

From The Wall Street Journal

Under the glow of fluorescent lights at Seafood City market in North Hills, packages of pre-made adobo, salted shrimp fry and and dried anchovies glisten in meat coolers.

From Los Angeles Times

America’s largest meat supplier, Tyson, says it is shutting down the plant to cut costs.

From The Wall Street Journal

“How have you improved culture? What is the meat on the bone for the proof that you are contributing on a real substantial level?”

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• food
• foodstuff