The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
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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.And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, . . . to you it shall be for meat.
--Gen. i. 29.Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you.
--Gen. ix. 3. The flesh of animals used as food; esp., animal muscle; as, a breakfast of bread and fruit without meat.
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Specifically: Dinner; the chief meal. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.Meat biscuit. See under Biscuit.
Meat earth (Mining), vegetable mold.
--Raymond.Meat fly. (Zo["o]l.) 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.