Meanings
- USslanguncountableA piece of highly processed mechanically separated chicken that is used as an ingredient for meals served in the US prison system.
It was originally served in the form of handmade meatball-like chunks that resemble medium sized rocks (hence the prison name “meatrock”)
2018 November 29, Uhuru B. Rowe, Conscious Prisoner2 more examples
The meat is usually what we call “meatrock” – actually low-grade ground chicken that says “for institutional use only” on the side of the box.
2021 January 15, Daniel A. Rosen, ““Let Them Eat Dog Food”: Nutrition and Health Behind Bars”, in Three Hots One CotOverall, all of them, if they can get out, they want to live a quiet, peaceful life, where they have a home and can be around people they love and who love them, and to be able to do simple things like go to the grocery store, or go to the park, go on a hike, and be able to eat a meal that is not meatrock or something that looks like dog food.
2022 December 28, Cindy, “Senator Boysko Visits Virginia Prisons: “They give them $2.20 per inmate per day. My cat food is $1.25 a can, and that’s for one meal.””, in Blue Virginia
Origin
From meat + rock; from the food's resemblance to a piece of rock in some forms.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
meatrock. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meatrock
“meatrock.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meatrock. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “meatrock,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meatrock.
Source: meatrock on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.