meal ticket

noun

: one that serves as the ultimate source of one's income
an advanced degree was his meal ticket

Examples of meal ticket in a Sentence

a star player who is expected to be the team's meal ticket for many years An advanced degree was his meal ticket. We bought three meal tickets at the fair.
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
The musical grinds to a halt whenever Norma is offstage and a chorus of showbiz wannabes, clad in cargo pants and hoodies, scavenge for their next meal ticket. Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 21 Oct. 2024 That shot’s either going to be his meal ticket or his ticket outta town. Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 21 Oct. 2024 Berger also pledged that Players Era’s grand ambitions for the future would not come into conflict with the NCAA’s vernal meal ticket. Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 3 Sep. 2019 What Titus doesn’t know is that Domitian had already instructed Tenax to orchestrate his assassination, a plan that falls apart so spectacularly that Tenax has to kill Titus himself to save his meal ticket Domitian from facing the blade. Hunter Ingram, Variety, 19 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for meal ticket 

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1899, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of meal ticket was circa 1899

Dictionary Entries Near meal ticket

Cite this Entry

“Meal ticket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meal%20ticket. Accessed 7 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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