Using meat, meet and mete

It seemed high time for another Phonics Friday post. Today we'll tackle a set of fraternal triplets of language, the homophones meat, meet and mete. Once again, I'll provide a definition, examples and mnemonic tricks to help you keep them straight.

meat

Photo credit: mconnors from morguefile.com

meat (n.) flesh; the flesh of an animal used as food; the edible part or kernel of certain plant fruits (such as a walnut or coconut).

(n.) at the core of something; the most important part of something.

Examples

• The chef's knife slipped, slicing the meat of his palm.
• Rudy is vegan; the only meat he eats is coconut meat and other nut meats.
• The meat of the issue is fairness and equality.
• Your topic is very meaty. Can you keep the paper under ten pages?

Mnemonic
Andy ate meat at all meals.

meet

Photo credit: diggerdanno from morguefile.com

meet (v., trans.) met, meeting -  to encounter or come into contact; to become acquainted;  to gather with others, especially at a particular place and time; to come together for a common purpose

 - to provide for or pay fully; to cope with

- to conform precisely; to form a junction

- to have or receive a particular reaction

 meet (n.) - a gathering of athletes for a sports competition; a gathering to hunt foxes

meet (adj., archaic) - suitable; made to fit

Examples

• I can't wait to meet Jane's twin brother.
• Lois met us at noon to carpool to the swim meet.
• His higher salary will meet all the family's financial needs.
• Carlos thinks his candidate meets all the requirements best.
• Thorn Road meets Blueberry Lane just past the post office.
• His proposal was met with applause and cheers.
• Phua placed third in 500 meter hurdles at the track meet.
• Count Roderigo felt it meet that she should attend the coronation.

Mnemonic
Bree is free to meet new people

mete

Photo credit: cohdra from morguefile.com

mete (v., trans.) meted, meting -  to allot or dole out justice or punishment (usually with out)
- (archaic) to measure

Examples

• The queen will mete out justice to the highwaymen terrorizing her land.
• Harken the ways of yon fishmonger who metes not fair portions of his trout.

Mnemonic
Pete theatened to mete out concrete shoes for any athlete who dares to compete.


The handful of archaic forms are where troubles arise most. "It is meet that I should thus mete your portion of the meat from our meet" is not a sentence you're likely to see outside historical fiction or fantasy.

Which of these new definitions were new to you? What other homophones tend to trip you up?

Categories: homophone help, spelling help