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Showing results for cannon fodder. Search instead for cannon+fodder.
Synonyms

cannon fodder

American  

noun

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

cannon fodder British  

noun

  1. 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

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.