fresh meat

fresh meat

1. A person or group of people, especially newcomers, who are seen by others as a new target for scorn, humiliation, ridicule, or sexual advances. When you first enter high school, you're often seen as fresh meat—an easy target for thick-skulled upperclassmen. John is a scumbag to women, referring to groups he finds in bars as "fresh meat" for his sexual conquests.
2. Any newcomer or group of newcomers entering into a wider group or organization. Every summer, we get a bunch of fresh meat entering into the company as interns, having just graduated from the local university.
See also: fresh, meat
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • laugh (someone or something) to scorn
  • laugh someone or something to scorn
  • scoff
  • scoff at
  • scoff at (someone or something)
  • take (some) heat
  • take some heat
  • body shame
  • body shaming
  • joke
References in classic literature
They informed Captain Bonneville, however, that not far from his quarters they had found a wallet of fresh meat and a cord, which they supposed had been left by some prowling Blackfeet.
"Two times in every month there is fresh meat upon my table." He made a pause here, to let that fact sink home, then added -- "and eight times salt meat."
Here he had been blowing and bragging about his grand meat-feast twice a year, and his fresh meat twice a month, and his salt meat twice a week, and his white bread every Sunday the year round -- all for a family of three; the entire cost for the year not above 69.2.6 (sixty-nine cents, two mills and six milrays), and all of a sudden here comes along a man who slashes out nearly four dollars on a single blow-out; and not only that, but acts as if it made him tired to handle such small sums.
It was a huge piece of fresh meat, and as I stared at it several more pieces rolled over the cliffs in different places.
The green meadows which border these mountain streams are generally well stocked with game, and the hunters killed several fat elks, which supplied the camp with fresh meat. In the evening the travellers were surprised by an unwelcome visit from several Crows belonging to a different band from that which they recently left, and who said their camp was among the mountains.
"Good!" said the disappointed harpooner, who saw his dreams of fresh meat fade away.
They had gone out for fresh meat early in the day, and had not yet returned.
Every spring they did it; and in the barrels would be dirt and rust and old nails and stale water--and cartload after cartload of it would be taken up and dumped into the hoppers with fresh meat, and sent out to the public's breakfast.
They say the captain will never point the ship for the land so long as he has in anticipation a mess of fresh meat. This unhappy bird can alone furnish it; and when he is once devoured, the captain will come to his senses.
He had some fresh meat, which he roasted hurriedly upon a stick.
We were in need of fresh meat, yet I hesitated to shatter the quiet and peaceful serenity of the view with the crack of a rifle and the death of one of those beautiful creatures before us.
"Here's fresh meat for your axe, Kreis," he said; "a rose-white youth with the ardor of a lover for Herbert Spencer.
The Spaniards added to our feast five whole kids, which the cooks roasted; and three of them were sent, covered up close, on board the ship to the seamen, that they might feast on fresh meat from on shore, as we did with their salt meat from on board.
The result is that the caterpillar is paralyzed, but not immediately killed, the advantage of this being that the larva cannot be injured by any movement of the caterpillar, upon which the egg is deposited, and is provided with fresh meat when the time comes.
We had food enough, and with the water we were all quite refreshed; but we missed fresh meat. It had been weeks, now, since we had tasted it, and the sight of the reptiles gave me an idea--that a steak or two from one of them might not be bad eating.