meat and potatoes
noun (used with a singular or plural verb)Informal.
the essential or basic part: Community service is the meat and potatoes of this program.
QUIZZES
GEE WHILLIKERS! WAIT TILL YOU SEE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!
Do you remember all the words from last week, September 21–27, 2020? Then this quiz should be butyraceous.
Question 1 of 7
What does “yare” mean?
Origin of meat and potatoes
probably earlier than 1950–55
Words nearby meat and potatoes
measuring spoon, measuringworm, meat, meatal, meat and drink to one, meat and potatoes, meat ax, meataxe, meatball, Meath, meathead
Definition for meat and potatoes (2 of 2)
meat-and-potatoes
or meat-and-po·ta·to
[ meet-n-puh-tey-tohz, -tuhz ]
/ ˈmit n pəˈteɪ toʊz, -təz /
adjective Informal.
fundamental; down-to-earth; basic: What are the meat-and-potatoes issues of the election?
Origin of meat-and-potatoes
First recorded in 1945–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for meat and potatoes
Think of what a meat-and-potatoes Democrat like Ed Rendell would do in the job.
A meat-and-potatoes Democrat like Ed Rendell would make jobs and the economy the true top priority of his administration.
Poverty Plagues Obama’s America, Press Based in Booming Cities Shrugs|Stuart Stevens|April 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Idioms and Phrases with meat and potatoes
meat and potatoes
The fundamental part or parts of something, as in This paragraph is the meat and potatoes of the contract. This metaphoric term transfers what some regard as basic fare to the basics of an issue. [Mid-1900s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.