fodder
Americannoun
-
coarse food for livestock, composed of entire plants, including leaves, stalks, and grain, of such forages as corn and sorghum.
-
people considered as readily available and of little value.
cannon fodder.
-
raw material.
fodder for a comedian's routine.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
bulk feed for livestock, esp hay, straw, etc
-
raw experience or material
fodder for the imagination
verb
Related Words
See feed.
Etymology
Origin of fodder
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English fodder, fōdor; cognate with German Futter; akin to food
Explanation
Fodder is cheap food, usually given to livestock animals like cows. If you gave a cow caviar or homemade scones, that would not be fodder. Try cornstalks. Fodder is not just used to describe cattle feed. We use the word to talk about other kinds of feeding that don't involve actual food. A new celebrity marriage is fodder for gossip magazines. In war, the soldiers most likely to be killed, are called cannon fodder, from the times when armies used canons instead of drone aircraft dropping missiles.
Vocabulary lists containing fodder
Their Eyes Were Watching God
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Ender's Game
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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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.
Don’t Miss: Naumkeag, a Gilded Age estate in Stockbridge, where you’ll find terraced gardens and sculptural hedges—ideal fodder for a reset after time spent with screaming tweens.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026
A sheep who can’t conceive of death, let alone accept that humans would want to murder and eat her entire flock, might as well be fodder.
From Salon • May 17, 2026
Some plots lie uncultivated, while thin lines of grass grown as animal fodder weave between vegetables to stretch scarce inputs.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
And his one moment in the national spotlight became fodder for opponents.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
On the thirty-second day, the last of the grain and fodder.
From "A Dance with Dragons" 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.
