spoon-meat

A baby eats spoon-meat from a small bowl.

Definition

1. Noun (archaic or dialect):
   • Liquid or semi-liquid food: "spoon-meat" refers to food that is soft, easily eaten with a spoon, such as soups, porridge, or baby food.
   • Food for infants or invalids: Often used historically for nourishment given to young children or sick people who cannot chew solid food.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The old nurse prepared spoon-meat for the infant, a thin gruel of milk and rice. (Soft, spoonable food for a baby.)
  • After his illness, he could only tolerate spoon-meat like broth and custard. (Easily swallowed food for a convalescent.)

Advanced Usage

• Historical context: The term "spoon-meat" was common in 17th–19th century English, especially in rural or domestic settings. It is now largely obsolete but may appear in historical novels or dialectal speech.
  • In the farmhouse, the cook made spoon-meat for the children by boiling oats in milk. (A simple, traditional dish.)

Variants and Related Words

• Spoonful (n): the amount a spoon can hold.
  • He took a spoonful of the warm spoon-meat. (A small quantity of the soft food.)
• Spoon-feed (v): to feed someone using a spoon; also figuratively, to provide excessive assistance.
  • She had to spoon-feed the baby the spoon-meat. (To give food using a spoon.)

Synonyms

• Pottage: a thick soup or stew.
• Gruel: a thin, watery porridge, often given to the sick or weak.
• Pap: soft, semi-liquid food for infants or invalids.

Related Idioms

• "Spoon-fed": (figurative) to be given too much help or information, so that one does not have to think or act independently.
  • The students were spoon-fed the answers and never learned to solve problems themselves. (Overly assisted, like being fed soft food.)