mincemeat

M3I1N1C3E1M3E1A1T1
US/ˈmɪnsˌmit/

noun

A mixture of fruit, spices and suet used as a filling for mince pies.

UncommonScrabble 15

Meanings

nounmincemeat (countable and uncountable, plural mincemeats)

plural mincemeats

  1. countableuncountableA mixture of fruit, spices and suet used as a filling for mince pies.

    And not to rub salt in wounds, when it comes to making mincemeat of the competition, American Joey Chestnut is still top banana.

    2015 July 2, Michael Pearson, “6 things to know about hot dog king Joey Chestnut”, in CNN

    Synonyms: mince

  2. countablerareuncountableMinced meat, mince.

    Synonyms: ground meat, mince

  3. countableuncountableby analogyA badly cut-up body or parts of a body.

    Slicing up every man, woman, and child into mincemeat.

    2010, The Orbitology, The Book of Godom & Somorrah, →ISBN, page 29
    2 more examples

    This was another phenomenon for which there was no word: someone had reduced the body of another man to mincemeat.

    2011, Fred Vargas, An Uncertain Place, →ISBN, page 46

    His chest and neck turned into mincemeat. The double chin had been blown away completely, revealing a skeletal jaw and chemically whitened teeth.

    2011, Scott Kenemore, Zombie, Ohio: A Tale of the Undead, →ISBN, page 228
  4. broadlycountableuncountableSomething or someone utterly destroyed.

    Weevil Underwood: My army of insects will make mincemeat out of you!

    2002 March 20, Kazuki Takahashi, Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories (PlayStation video game, North American version), Konami
    4 more examples

    No one was to be spared in this frightful slaughter. The American 34th, 36th Texas, lst Armored, the British, the New Zealanders, the Indians, the Poles and the French, under the brilliant General Juin; all were to be ground to mincemeat by futile attacks against this fortress.

    2003, Theresa Deane, 500 Days of Front Line Combat: The WWII Memoir of Ralph B. Schaps, →ISBN

    "He said his client had been receiving death threats and he was quite paranoid. "His exact words were: 'I think he's mincemeat by now'."

    2007 January 18, “Solicitor thought client was 'mincemeat'”, in The Age

    For the common man in the sixteenth century, a calendar which paced not just the seasons but also the life of Christ would have to be divinely inspired. It would capture his heart and his mind. Pope Gregory's four hundred-year-one would become mincemeat.

    2007, Bill Napier, Splintered Icon, →ISBN

    Happily for the Lakers, who were mincemeat without him, Nash is back in the nick of time, with the Knicks, who walked all over them in New York two weeks ago, in town for a Christmas Day game.

    2012 December 24, Mark Heisler, “After Looking East to the Knicks, Nash Cut West to the Lakers”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 31 May 2015

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA mixture of fruit, spices and suet used as a filling for mince pies.

Similar

nounMinced meat, mince.

Origin

An alteration of earlier minced meat; equivalent to mince + meat.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἰσίκιον, περίκομμα
  • ἰσίκιον (isíkion)minced meat
  • περίκομμα (períkomma)minced meat
Chinese Mandarin 百果餡 /百果馅, 果餡 /果馅
  • 百果餡 /百果馅 (bǎiguǒxiàn)mixture of fruit, etc used as a filling
  • 果餡 /果馅 (guǒxiàn)mixture of fruit, etc used as a filling
Finnish sekahedelmätäyte
  • sekahedelmätäytemixture of fruit, etc used as a filling
Irish mionra torthaí, ciolar chiot
  • mionra torthaímixture of fruit, etc used as a filling
  • ciolar chiotsomething or someone utterly destroyed
Italian carne macinata
  • carne macinataminced meat
Korean 민스미트
  • 민스미트 (minseumiteu)mixture of fruit, etc used as a filling
Latin minutal, īsicium
  • minutalminced meat
  • īsiciumminced meat
Polish mincemeat, mięso mielone
  • mincemeatmixture of fruit, etc used as a filling
  • mięso mieloneminced meat
  • cieńsomething or someone utterly destroyed
Scottish Gaelic mions
  • mionsmixture of fruit, etc used as a filling
Swedish köttfärs, slarvsylta
  • köttfärsminced meat
  • slarvsyltasomething or someone utterly destroyed
Welsh briwffrwyth, briwgig
  • briwffrwythmixture of fruit, etc used as a filling
  • briwgigminced meat

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

mincemeat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mincemeat

MLA

“mincemeat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mincemeat. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mincemeat,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mincemeat.

Source: mincemeat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.