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View synonyms for meal ticket

meal ticket

noun

  1. a ticket that entitles the bearer to meals in a specified restaurant, especially when meals purchased in this manner are offered at reduced rates.
  2. Informal. someone upon whom one is dependent for one's income or livelihood:

    selfish children who look upon their father only as a meal ticket.

  3. Informal. something, as an object or ability possessed by a person, that is necessary to that person's livelihood:

    The radio announcer's voice was his meal ticket.



meal ticket

noun

  1. slang.
    a person, situation, etc, providing a source of livelihood or income
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of meal ticket1

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70
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Word History and Origins

Origin of meal ticket1

from original US sense of ticket entitling holder to a meal
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Idioms and Phrases

A person or thing depended on as a source of income, as in Magic Johnson was a real meal ticket for his team , or Her interpersonal skills will be her meal ticket when she goes into sales . This metaphoric expression alludes to the earlier practice of handing out tickets that entitle their holder to a meal. [Early 1900s]
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Example Sentences

A combination of good relationships, opportunity and Ireland being a minor meal ticket for famous pros on the downswing played a role in bringing one of the greats to the League of Ireland.

From BBC

I went back to law school on my way out of my first marriage because I needed a meal ticket.

The young ones saw me as a meal ticket, and the older men saw me as their Lolita.

She needs trustworthy people around her who work for her and don’t see her as a meal ticket.

She encountered her promoter, King, sitting by himself after watching his meal ticket chomp his career into pieces.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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