Meat (?), 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.
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.
2. The flesh of animals used as food; esp.,
animal muscle; as, a breakfast of bread and fruit without
meat.
3. Specifically, dinner; the chief
meal. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Meat biscuit. See under Biscuit.
-- Meat earth (Mining), vegetable
mold. Raymond. -- Meat fly.
(Zoöl.) 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.
Meat, v. t. To supply with
food. [Obs.] Tusser.
His shield well lined, his horses meated
well.
Chapman.