horsemeat

IPA/hˈɔːsmiːt/
IPA/hˈɔːɹsmiːt/

horsemeat — noun

1. meat that comes from a horse and that people cook and eat

1.nounB2
Definition

meat that comes from a horse and that people cook and eat

Example

When Aoi moved to France, she was surprised to see horsemeat for sale in the supermarket.

uncountable noun used with 'for sale'

Sivan's grandmother in Kazakhstan often cooks a traditional stew using horsemeat and noodles.

Common collocations
  • eat horsemeat
  • horsemeat products
  • label horsemeat
  • horsemeat stew
  • horsemeat steak
Synonyms
  • horse meat

    the same meaning, written as two separate words

Usage Note

Eating horsemeat is common in some cultures — for example, in France, Belgium, and Central Asia — but it is rare or taboo in English-speaking countries such as the UK and the US. This cultural difference means that the word can carry strong negative or neutral reactions depending on the audience.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Horsemeat and horse meat are spelling variants of the same idea — the one-word form is more common in compound modifiers (horsemeat products) while the two-word form appears in literal contexts (the meat of a horse). Neither implies a difference in meaning or register. Equine meat is a formal, almost scientific label used in food-industry regulations or nutrition discussions; a typical English speaker would not say 'equine meat' in daily conversation.

horse meatequine meat

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • for sale
  • label ___ clearly
  • contain ___

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

A compound formed in English from horse (Old English hors) and meat (Old English mete, meaning 'food' in general). The word originally meant any food given to horses, but by the 1800s it had shifted to mean the flesh of a horse eaten by people — a reversal of the earlier sense.