meat market

English edit

Etymology edit

The colloquial sense was coined in the 1950s. Sex has been likened to meat since as early as the 16th century, with such references to it as "have a jumble in the giblets" and "have a bit of mutton", not to mention "carnal relations".

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Particularly: “Surely the comparison to meat is older than time itself?”

Pronunciation edit

Audio (AU) (file)

Noun edit

meat market (plural meat markets)

A market where meat is sold.
(colloquial, idiomatic) A place where one goes for a casual sexual encounter, such as a bar (establishment) or nightclub.
Synonym: meet market
- 1997, David Foster Wallace, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again”, in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Kindle edition, Little, Brown Book Group:
  The rumors about Carnival 7NC’s are legion, one such rumor being that their Cruises are kind of like floating meat-market bars and that their ships bob with a conspicuous carnal squeakatasqueakata at night.
(colloquial) A place or situation abounding in men, especially beefcake.