meat market
A place where one goes for a casual sexual encounter, such as a bar (establishment) or nightclub.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“That nightclub is just a meat market.”
“He refused to go to the new bar because he heard it was a total meat market.”
“She felt uncomfortable at the party because it felt like a meat market where everyone was just judging each other based on their looks.”
“The crowded lounge functioned primarily as a meat market, where patrons prioritized fleeting encounters over genuine conversation.”
The colloquial sense was coined in the 1950s, though the habit of likening human sexual activity to meat dates to at least the 16th century. Early modern English records numerous variations on the theme, including the 16th-century phrases "to have a jumble in the giblets" and "to have a bit of mutton."
The association persists in the term "carnal relations," derived from the Latin *caro*, meaning flesh or meat. The 1950s coinage simply applied the marketplace setting to an existing linguistic preference for describing physical intimacy in terms of the butcher's inventory.
- 01
black market
Trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing, or price controls.
- 02
bring one's own hide to market
To create one's own fate, as a result of one's chosen character and actions; to experience the appropriate consequences of one's behavior.
- 03
chew the meat and spit out the bones
To take in a great deal of information and selectively disregard some of it as invalid or inapplicable.
- 04
corner the market
To monopolize a resource or commodity, as with the intent of driving up prices.
- 05
dead meat
Someone in danger of being killed or severely punished.
- 06
drug on the market
something which is overabundant at the moment and thus not in demand.
- 07
meat on one's bones
An amount of flesh on one's body that prevents one from being very thin.
- 08
meat on the bones
A substantial addition to or augmentation of the content of something, especially something which is unfinished or incomplete.
Last updated August 10, 2026