meal tickets
Cafeteria payment vouchers
A meal ticket is literally a voucher exchangeable for food, but the figurative sense dominates: a person or thing that provides ongoing financial support or livelihood.
A spouse, a talent, or a steady job can all be someone's meal ticket: That contract is my meal ticket.
The phrase often implies dependence or exploitation: She saw him as nothing but a meal ticket.
One who gives aid
- sponsorFunder of activities
- patronRegular supporter or customer
- sugar daddyWealthy older romantic benefactor
- providerOne who furnishes things
supporter · backer · bankroller · gravy train · free ride · kept · reliance · mooching
Primary household earner
- incomeRegular monetary receipts
- paycheckCompensation for labor
- salaryFixed periodic employment payment
- wagesPayment for work
employment · job · career · occupation · profession · vocation · earning · subsistence
Redeemable certificate for value
- couponCertificate for reduced price
- food stampGovernment-issued grocery allowance
- ration cardPermit for limited goods
- tokenRepresentative placeholder
chit · commissary · subsidy · allowance · canteen · employee benefit
Team's premier athlete
- golden childFamily's most favored member
- moneymakerSource of income
- assetItem of value owned
- drawCreate with pencil
attraction · franchise player · rainmaker · cash cow · trump card · ace · sure thing · bread and butter
benefactor
One who gives aid
- sponsorFunder of activities
- patronRegular supporter or customer
- sugar daddyWealthy older romantic benefactor
provider · supporter · backer · bankroller · gravy train · free ride · kept · reliance · mooching · coattails
breadwinner
Primary household earner
- incomeRegular monetary receipts
- paycheckCompensation for labor
- salaryFixed periodic employment payment
wages · employment · job · career · occupation · profession · vocation · earning · subsistence · remuneration
voucher
Redeemable certificate for value
- couponCertificate for reduced price
- food stampGovernment-issued grocery allowance
- ration cardPermit for limited goods
token · chit · commissary · subsidy · allowance · canteen · employee benefit
star player
Team's premier athlete
- golden childFamily's most favored member
- moneymakerSource of income
- assetItem of value owned
draw · attraction · franchise player · rainmaker · cash cow · trump card · ace · sure thing · bread and butter
- school cafeteriaschool cafeteria, cafeteria, lunch line, lunch trays, lunch tray
- soup kitchensoup kitchen, serving line, ladles, volunteers, food donations
- money substitutesvouchers, tokens, coupons, gift cards, prepaid cards
- prison foodcommissary, mess hall, chow hall, spreads, spread
- cafeterialunch line, menu, line, tray, food counter
- handoutsflyers, pamphlet, brochures, leaflet, leaflets
meal ticketsself-reliance
Depending on oneself alone
self-sufficiency · independence · financial independence · self-support · bootstrapping
meal ticketsprecariousness
State of uncertain stability
uncertainty · living on the edge · no safety net · feast or famine · instability
meal ticketsequal partnership
Arrangement where both contribute alike
mutual support · reciprocity · give and take · shared responsibility · interdependence