Definition

1. Noun:
   • The light-colored meat from the breast or other front parts of poultry, such as chicken or turkey: This term specifically refers to the pale, lean flesh from these areas, which contrasts with the darker "dark meat" from the legs and thighs.
   • More broadly, meat that is light in color before and after cooking: In some contexts, it can refer to other pale meats like veal, pork, or rabbit, though this usage is less common and can be regionally specific.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • I prefer the white meat from the turkey breast; it's less fatty.
  • For a healthier option, the recipe calls for skinless chicken white meat.
  • The platter had both dark and white meat from the roasted chicken.

Advanced Usage

• "The white meat": Used to specify the pale meat from poultry, often in contrast to dark meat.
  • At Thanksgiving, my uncle always asks for the white meat.
• Conceptual use in broader comparisons: Sometimes used metaphorically or in non-culinary contexts to describe something considered lighter, milder, or less intense.
  • In terms of risk, government bonds are considered the white meat of the investment world. (Note: This is a figurative extension and not the primary definition.)

Variants and Related Words

• Dark meat (n): The darker, often more flavorful meat from the legs and thighs of poultry.
  • Some people find dark meat to be more juicy than white meat.
• Poultry (n): Domesticated birds kept for meat or eggs, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese.
• Breast (n): The front part of a bird's body; the primary source of white meat in poultry.

Synonyms

• Light meat: A direct synonym, especially when referring to poultry.
• Breast meat: A more specific term for white meat from the breast of a bird.

Related Phrases

• Stick to white meat: An informal phrase suggesting a dietary choice to eat only poultry breast or other light meats, often for health reasons.
  • Since his check-up, he's decided to stick to white meat and fish.

Related Idioms

• To be like white meat and dark meat: An idiom (though not extremely common) used to describe two things that are fundamentally part of the same whole but have different characteristics.
  • The two departments are like white meat and dark meat—both essential to the company but operating very differently.

Noun

1. meat carved from the breast of a fowl