jerked meat

4.1

Meat cut into thin strips and dried to keep it for a long time

noun
/dʒɜrkt miːt/

: carne seca

I enjoyed a delicious sandwich made with jerked meat and fresh vegetables.

Examples

I had had only a bit of jerked meat for breakfast and copious drinks of water during the day.

Fiction book (1993)
Food processing would be limited to jerking meat, drying fruits, and canning over an open fire.

Blog text (20)
During our hike, we packed some jerked meat for a quick snack along the trail.
For a tasty meal, try adding jerked meat to your favorite salad or stew.

Synonyms

jerky

vsjerked meat

30 3.7

Thin strips of dried meat eaten as a snack

is focused on drying by sun or wind rather than low heat

beef jerky

vsjerked meat

20 2.0

A snack of dried salty beef strips

is the general term for any meat dried for preservation rather than a snack

jerk

vsjerked meat

1 6.8

Dry strips of meat, often salted for long storage

does not require seasoning and highlights drying for preservation

Surface Forms

jerked meat singular

jerked meats plural

Morphology

jerked + meat

The sense 'dried/preserved meat' cannot be predicted from the constituent words: a B1 learner knowing 'meat' and the common senses of 'jerk' (to yank or a style of seasoning) would not infer drying or preservation. The culinary sense (jerky/jerked) is lexicalized and historically non-compositional, so the meaning is not transparently derived from the parts.

Etymology

Jerked meat comes from a South American word for dried meat called 'charqui', which Spanish speakers used and English later changed to 'jerky'. People cut meat into thin strips and dried them in the sun or wind so it would keep for months, so jerked meat today means 'meat cut into strips and dried'.