[syn: kernel, substance, core, center, centre, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, marrow, meat, nub, pith, sum, nitty-gritty]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Meat \Meat\ (m[=e]t), n. [OE. mete, AS. mete; akin to OS. mat,
meti, D. met hashed meat, G. mettwurst sausage, OHG. maz
food, Icel. matr, Sw. mat, Dan. mad, Goth. mats. Cf. Mast
fruit, Mush.]
1. Food, in general; anything eaten for nourishment, either
by man or beast. Hence, the edible part of anything; as,
the meat of a lobster, a nut, or an egg. --Chaucer.
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And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb
bearing seed, . . . to you it shall be for meat.
--Gen. i. 29.
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Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for
you. --Gen. ix. 3.
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2. The flesh of animals used as food; esp., animal muscle;
as, a breakfast of bread and fruit without meat.
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3. Specifically: Dinner; the chief meal. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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Meat biscuit. See under Biscuit.
Meat earth (Mining), vegetable mold. --Raymond.
Meat fly. (Zool.) See Flesh fly, under Flesh.
Meat offering (Script.), an offering of food, esp. of a
cake made of flour with salt and oil.
To go to meat, to go to a meal. [Obs.]
To sit at meat, to sit at the table in taking food.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Meat \Meat\, v. t.
To supply with food. [Obs.] --Tusser.
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His shield well lined, his horses meated well.
--Chapman.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
meat
n 1: the flesh of animals (including fishes and birds and
snails) used as food
2: the inner and usually edible part of a seed or grain or nut
or fruit stone; "black walnut kernels are difficult to get
out of the shell" [syn: kernel, meat]
3: the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some
idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument";
"the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the
story" [syn: kernel, substance, core, center,
centre, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul,
inwardness, marrow, meat, nub, pith, sum, nitty-
gritty]