Word
mutton
Phoneticsmut·ton
US/ˈmətən/
UK/mˈʌtən/
Definitions
01meat from sheep
n. the meat from a sheep that is more than one year old.
n. the flesh of a mature sheep used as food, typically distinguished from the meat of younger animals (lamb) by its darker colour and stronger flavour.
“The stew was made with mutton and slow-cooked until the meat was tender.”
“Traditional recipes often call for mutton rather than lamb because the mature meat stands up better to long, slow braising with heavy spices.”
02deaf
adj. a slang word for being unable to hear well.
adj. used as a synonym for 'deaf' in Cockney rhyming slang, derived from the phrase 'mutton jeff'.
“You will have to speak up because he is a bit mutton these days.”
“The elderly man joked that he was getting a bit mutton, asking his grandchildren to repeat their stories more loudly.”
British English · Slang · Dialect
Usage
Usually follows the verb 'to be' and is often preceded by 'a bit'.
Teaching tip
This is specific to British English and is very informal; learners should use it only in casual, humorous contexts.
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“Meanwhile, in Britain, ramen has become so mainstream that you can get it from Shetland to the Channel Islands with everything from Hebridean mutton to Cornish crab on top.” Etymology
From Middle English motoun, moton, from Old French mouton (“sheep”), from Vulgar Latin moltō, from Gaulish multon-, from Proto-Celtic moltos (“ram, wether”). Doublet of mouton.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Idioms
laced mutton — A prostitute.
return to one's muttons — To get back to the business at hand.