Synonyms

cannon fodder

American

noun

soldiers, especially infantrymen, who run the greatest risk of being wounded or killed in warfare.

cannon fodder British

noun

men regarded as expendable because they are part of a huge army

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cannon fodder

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

cannon fodder

“Then I went to the Marine Corps and—bang! They just wanted cannon fodder, I think.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

So you are on the side of Mario, not Donkey Kong; the lone gunslinger, not the cannon fodder in the hallways.

From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2023

"We especially want to target the partially mobilised who not only can't fight but are thrown in as cannon fodder," says Vitalii Matviyenko, who heads up the scheme.

From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2022

“If they need more cannon fodder, that is what they’ll be doing,” he said.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 13, 2022

The wily Austro-Hungarians regarded the Serbs as cannon fodder in the attrition war against the Russians and the Turks.

From Terrorists and Freedom Fighters by Samuel Vaknin

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023