carrion
Americannoun
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dead and putrefying flesh.
-
rottenness; anything vile.
adjective
noun
-
dead and rotting flesh
-
(modifier) eating carrion
carrion beetles
-
something rotten or repulsive
Etymology
Origin of carrion
1175–1225; Middle English caroyne, careyn, carion < Anglo-French careine, Old French charo ( i ) gne < Vulgar Latin *caronia, equivalent to Latin carun- ( caruncle ) + -ia -y 3
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.
After weeks of patience, last year's winner, Shane Gross, captured peppered moray eels scavenging for carrion at low tide.
From BBC • Oct. 14, 2025
On east-west corridors through central L.A., the brown fronds of palms — queen, fan and other varieties — were scattered on the streets and sidewalks like carrion.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2025
Squirrels typically eat acorns, seeds, nuts and fruit, but are known to occasionally eat fresh carrion or roadkill, insects, eggs or other discarded food.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2024
Vultures thus fulfil an important ecological role by cleaning landscapes of carrion and containing the spread of wildlife diseases.
From Science Daily • Nov. 19, 2024
Tyrioii saw no bodies, but the air was full of ravens and carrion crows; there had been fighting here, and recently.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
