tenderloin

Meanings

Plural: tenderloins

Noun

• a city district known for its vice and high crime rate
• the tender meat of the loin muscle on each side of the vertebral column
• The tenderest part of a loin of meat, especially of pork or beef.
• A district of a city where corruption is common, often because the district is devoted to questionable businesses (peep shows, etc) which are easy for police to blackmail and extort.

Synonyms

combat zone, eye fillet, fillet, red-light district, striploin, undercut