mincemeat

American  

[mins-meet] / ˈmɪnsˌmit /

noun

1. a mixture composed of minced apples, raisins, currants, candied citron, suet, etc., originally and traditionally also containing meat, for filling a pie.

2. meat that is ground up or cut in very small pieces.

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idioms

1. make mincemeat of, to destroy utterly.

   He made mincemeat of his opponent's charges.

mincemeat British  

/ ˈmɪnsˌmiːt /

noun

1. a mixture of dried fruit, spices, etc, used esp for filling pies

2. minced meat

3. informal to defeat completely

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mincemeat More Idioms  

1. see make mincemeat of.

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Etymology

Origin of mincemeat

First recorded in 1655–65; mince + meat

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mincemeat

“But then I thought there’s mincemeat pie — I mean, that’s an English dessert. These people just put very strange things in their food.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025

Mr. Christie first ran for president in 2016, a year that made mincemeat of quite a few Republicans seen as rising stars in the party, and he was no exception.

From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2023

The EU's chief negotiator Maros Šefčovic said that lorries entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain would only require a three-page certificate, though separate certification would still be needed for higher-risk goods such as chilled mincemeat.

From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2023

One of the nation’s best aerial games will make mincemeat of CU’s porous pass defense.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 17, 2022

They seemed to think that the Enemy was looking high and low for me, and would make mincemeat of me, if he caught me tottering about in the Wild.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien