meat

1 animal and especially mammal tissue used as food we need to go shopping; there's only enough meat in the freezer for one more dinner Synonyms flesh Related Words game, poultry, red meat, variety meat

2 substances intended to be eaten offered his guests meat and drink Synonyms bread, chow, chuck [chiefly West], comestibles, eatables, eats, edibles, fare, foodstuffs, grub, food, provender, provisions, table, tucker [chiefly Australian], viands, victuals, vittlesRelated Words commissary, rations, supplies; aliment, nutriment; diet, nourishment, nurture, sustenance; mess, pap; ensilage, feed, fodder, forage, silage, slop, swill; feast, meal, refreshments, regale, repast, spread; board; dish, plate, platter, serving; finger food, natural foodNear Antonyms bane, poison, toxin, venom

3 the central part or aspect of something under consideration he dances all around it without ever addressing the meat of the issue Synonyms bottom line, bull's-eye, centerpiece, core, essence, gist, heart, kernel, keynote, crux, meat and potatoes, net, nub, nubbin, nucleus, pith, pivot, point, root, sumRelated Words course, direction, drift, tenor; body, content, substance; hypothesis, proposition, purport, subject, theme, thesis