meat

[ meet ]
See synonyms for meat on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the flesh of animals as used for food: in particular, mammals, especially livestock and game, and often including poultry and game birds.: See also flesh (def. 1), muscle meat.

  2. the edible part of anything, as a fruit or nut: Crack the walnuts and remove the meats.

  1. 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.

  2. solid food: meat and drink.

  3. solid or substantial content; pith: The article was full of meat, with few wasted words.

  4. a favorite occupation, activity, etc.: Chess is his meat.

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

  6. Slang: Vulgar. penis.

  7. Archaic. the principal meal: to say grace before meat.

Idioms about meat

  1. piece of meat, Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.

    • 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.

    • 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.”

Origin of meat

1
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

Other words from meat

  • meat·less, adjective

Words that may be confused with meat

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use meat in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for meat

meat

/ (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

  1. food, as opposed to drink

  2. the essence or gist

  3. an archaic word for meal 1

  4. meat and drink a source of pleasure

  5. have one's meat and one's manners Irish informal to lose nothing because one's offer is not accepted

Origin of meat

1
Old English mete; related to Old High German maz food, Old Saxon meti, Gothic mats

Derived forms of meat

  • meatless, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with meat

meat

In addition to the idioms beginning with meat

  • meat and drink to one
  • meat and potatoes

also see:

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

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.