Meanings
plural meat markets
- A market where meat is sold.
- colloquialidiomaticA place where one goes to find a date or a casual sexual encounter, such as a bar (establishment) or nightclub.
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.
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 GroupSynonyms: meet market
- colloquialA place or situation abounding in men, especially beefcake.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA place where one goes to find a date or a casual sexual encounter, such as a bar (establishment) or nightclub.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna shop in which meat and poultry (and sometimes fish) are sold
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
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".
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish lihatiski
- lihatiskiplace for a casual sexual encounter
German Fleischmarkt, Fleischerei
- Fleischmarktmarket where meat is sold
- Fleischereimarket where meat is sold
Icelandic kjötmarkaður
- kjötmarkaðurmarket where meat is sold
Irish margadh feola, margadh leathair
- margadh feolamarket where meat is sold
- margadh leathairplace for a casual sexual encounter
- margadh craicinnplace for a casual sexual encounter
Italian mercato della carne
- mercato della carnemarket where meat is sold
Scottish Gaelic margadh na feòla
- margadh na feòlamarket where meat is sold
Swahili soko la nyama
- soko la nyamamarket where meat is sold
Swedish köttmarknad
- köttmarknadplace for a casual sexual encounter
Cite this entry
meat market. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meat%20market
“meat market.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meat%20market. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “meat market,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meat%20market.
Source: meat market on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.