luncheon meat
A British and Canadian term for processed, cooked meat sold pre-sliced or in tins, equivalent to American 'lunch meat'.
Definitions
A British and Canadian term for processed, cooked meat sold pre-sliced or in tins, equivalent to American 'lunch meat'. The canned variety — most famously represented by Spam — became associated with postwar austerity in Britain, giving the word a slightly downmarket connotation. Today it can refer to any variety of packaged cold meat used in sandwiches.
She made him a luncheon meat sandwich and packed it in his bag without asking what he wanted.
Comments
(UK, Canada) Lunch meat.
“When you have luncheon meat you're having "meat in/for lunch".”
— r/etymology· Apr 2026
Comments
(dialectal) (canned meat).
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
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Semantically related
- cold meat70%
Any cold cooked meat such as luncheon meat or lunch meat, spam, chopped pork, corned beef, and so on.
- luncheon69%
(New Zealand) A large, cheap, processed sausage served in thin slices.
- Dutch loaf64%
(US) A luncheon meat made from spiced coarse-ground lean pork and beef formed into a loaf shape and smoked.