meat-and-potatoes

1 of 2

adjective

meat-and-po·​ta·​toes ˈmēt-ən(d)-pə-ˈtā-(ˌ)tōz How to pronounce meat-and-potatoes (audio)
1
: of fundamental importance : basic
also : concerned with or emphasizing the basic aspects of something
2
: unpretentious, simple
a real meat-and-potatoes guy
3
: providing or preferring simple food (such as meat and potatoes)

meat and potatoes

2 of 2

noun

plural in form but singular or plural in construction
: the most interesting or fundamental part : meat sense 4

Examples of meat-and-potatoes in a Sentence

Adjective a meat-and-potatoes knowledge of figure skating is all that a spectator really needs Noun an article that never gets into the meat and potatoes of a solution to the city's rising crime rate
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Created by Ben Davies and Timothy Lee, Territory is boldly and unapologetically meat-and-potatoes television, in which everybody is gruff, sweaty and coated in a fine layer of dust, as if to reenforce the connection between these characters and the Top End. Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Oct. 2024 These meat-and-potatoes approaches — vaccination, access to treatment and clean air — may not be the most exciting tools. Saad B. Omer, The Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2024
Noun
Polls show these two men are strangers to a large chunk of the electorate, and Vance is clearly mindful of the need for that type of overview before getting into the rhetorical meat and potatoes of the evening. Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2024 Russia’s moves might have come as a shock, but for millennia, conquests and annexations were the meat and potatoes of state building and international politics. Peter Liberman, Foreign Affairs, 14 Mar. 2014 See all Example Sentences for meat-and-potatoes 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'meat-and-potatoes.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1846, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1951, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of meat-and-potatoes was in 1846

Dictionary Entries Near meat-and-potatoes

meat

meat-and-potatoes

meat and potatoes

Cite this Entry

“Meat-and-potatoes.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meat-and-potatoes. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!