Meat hooks are large food grade stainless steel hooks that hold a full-sized animal carcass getting processed by a meat packer. They also appear in the odd horror movie such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to hang the odd human carcass getting processed for Hades.
The term meat-hooks is also used for the grabby hands of someone unpleasant. Used extensively in the thirties and fourties and in noir movies, it was typically part of the dialog of women when they wanted the villain or his henchmen to let her go. "Get your meat-hooks off of me!" The idea was she's being held against her will as though she was hanging from one of those hooks.
Iron Noder 2017