meat-and-po·ta·toes
ˈmēt-ən(d)-pə-ˈtā-(ˌ)tōz 
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)
plural in form but singular or plural in construction
: the most interesting or fundamental part : meat sense 4
Synonyms
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
Scott Tobias, Vulture, 20 Nov. 2024
The best way to describe the 2024 Los Angeles Rams draft: meat-and-potatoes picks.
—Jourdan Rodrigue, The Athletic, 27 Apr. 2024
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 
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Adjective
At a time when scientific process gets painted as voodoo in certain political circles, there’s a meat-and-potatoes satisfaction to watching a film that makes straightforward problem-solving seem heroic.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 20 Nov. 2024
The best way to describe the 2024 Los Angeles Rams draft: meat-and-potatoes picks.
—Jourdan Rodrigue, The Athletic, 27 Apr. 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
Dictionary Entries Near 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 16 Dec. 2024.
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