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corpus vile

British  
/ ˈkɔːpəs ˈvaɪlɪ /

noun

  1. a person or thing fit only to be the object of an experiment

"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 corpus vile

literally: worthless body

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:

Even the student body was regarded not as boys and girls to be taught, but as a corpus vile, a collection of human guinea pigs tolerated for experimental purposes.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was “supplied” always by a succession of first-year’s students, who made their experiments on the corpus vile here. 

From The Revolution in Tanner's Lane by Rutherford, Mark

No good book ought ever to be considered a mere corpus vile for rhetorical praxis.

From College Teaching Studies in Methods of Teaching in the College by Klapper, Paul

Australia is the corpus vile on which England makes her legislative experiments.

From Town Life in Australia by Twopeny, Richard Ernest Nowell

I could not understand his proceedings at all, and at the best I did not relish playing the corpus vile to his magical experiments.

From Allan's Wife by Haggard, Henry Rider

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