white meat

American  

noun

1. any meat that is light-colored before cooking, as veal or chicken (distinguished from red meat).

2. meat that is light-colored after cooking, as veal or breast of chicken or of turkey (distinguished from dark meat).

3. Slang: Vulgar. a white person considered as a sexual partner.

4. Southern U.S. salt pork, fatback, or other pork without any lean.

5. Archaic. food made from milk.

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white meat British  

noun

1. any meat that is light in colour, such as veal or the breast of turkey Compare red meat

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Etymology

Origin of white meat

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425

Example Sentences

Ironically, heavily processed and oddly shaped chicken patties, tenders and nuggets were popular so long as they claimed to contain 100% white meat.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

Only the white meat of clams and scallops should be prepared for eating.

From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2025

The findings around chicken and other white meat were less clear.

From BBC • Aug. 21, 2024

“From a nutritional perspective,” said Zach Koehn, a nutrition researcher at Stanford University’s Center for Ocean Solutions, “it’s kind of like the white meat of the sea.”

From Seattle Times • Jun. 2, 2024

‘Then—us’ll have these nice collards and some hoecake and coffee. And I going to cut me off a few slices of this here white meat and fry it for myself.’

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers