fodder

[ fod-er ]

noun

1. coarse food for livestock, composed of entire plants, including leaves, stalks, and grain, of such forages as corn and sorghum.
2. people considered as readily available and of little value:

   cannon fodder.

3. raw material:

   fodder for a comedian's routine.

verb (used with object)

1. to feed with or as if with fodder.

fodder

/ ˈfɒdə /

noun

1. bulk feed for livestock, esp hay, straw, etc
2. raw experience or material

   fodder for the imagination

verb

1. tr to supply (livestock) with fodder

Word History and Origins

Origin of fodder¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English fodder, fōdor; cognate with German Futter; akin to food

Word History and Origins

Origin of fodder¹

Old English fōdor ; related to Old Norse fōthr , Old High German fuotar ; see food , forage

Synonym Study

See feed.

Example Sentences

Epidemiological concepts like “herd immunity” and “aerosol transmission” are now fodder for casual conversations.

From Quanta Magazine

That’d be fodder for bears like David Einhorn, who called an “enormous” bubble in tech stocks and said his firm has added bearish wagers.

From Fortune

So all that said, Briggs is clearly the underdog but Mara has given him a lot of fodder and it has helped him string together a network of her critics that may cause the night to be closer than we all would have thought.

From Voice of San Diego

The mystery of that leak was great fodder for conspiracy theorists, but the fact that the hole was accidentally made by a drill was lucky.

From MIT Technology Review

So I think policy disputes aren’t likely to become big fodder.

From FiveThirtyEight

This video should give Disney enough fodder to create an action-packed Dumbo/Lion King crossover sequel.

From The Daily Beast

On the downside, it rewards them with fodder for nightmares.

From The Daily Beast

We Americans, as the postmodern conservative professor Peter Lawler has put it, refuse to see ourselves as mere "history fodder."

From The Daily Beast

There is a long history of the mammary glands as comedy fodder.

From The Daily Beast

So, after toiling away for two decades, Elba has finally crossed over from critically acclaimed actor to bona fide tabloid fodder.

From The Daily Beast

He shall give his mind to turn up furrows, and his care is to give the kine fodder.

From Project Gutenberg

Many of the inhabitants came out of their houses and gave it fodder, and every passer-by turned out of the way for it.

From Project Gutenberg

Clover, lucerne, ryegrass and similar grasses have been introduced to improve and vary the fodder.

From Project Gutenberg

Millet and rice are the staple crops; the former furnishing food both for man and beast, for its long stalks are excellent fodder.

From Project Gutenberg

Praise the liberal Maruts, and may they delight on the path of this man here who praises them, like cows in fodder.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• barley
• corn
• food
• forage
• grain
• hay