fodder
/ˈfɔdə/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.36 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Food for animals; that which is fed to cattle, horses, and sheep, such as hay, cornstalks, vegetables, etc.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A load: various English units of weight or volume based upon standardized cartloads of certain commodities, generally around 1000 kg.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Stuff; material; something that serves as inspiration or encouragement, especially for satire or humour.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
People considered to have negligible value and easily available or expendable.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The sheep for fodder follow the shepherd, the shepherd for food follows not the sheep."
- "Now measured by the old hundred, that is, 108 lbs. the charrus contains nearly 19 1/2 hundreds, that is it corresponds to the fodder, or fother, of modern times."
- "According to the audio commentary on “Treehouse Of Horror III,” some of the creative folks at The Simpsons were concerned that the “Treehouse Of Horror” franchise had outworn its welcome and was rapidly running out of classic horror or science-fiction fodder to spoof."
- "In (part of) Shelley's poem Ozymandias is a "crumbling statue". If this is the explanation then the clue is not a reverse cryptic in the same was^([sic]) as GEGS -> SCRAMBLED EGGS but a normal clue where where^([sic]) the fodder and anagrind are *both* indirect."
- "Insane Roman! (4) […] Look in -sane Roman and you'll uncover NERO, the insane Roman. Dovetailing the signpost — in — with the hidden fodder — sane Roman — is inspired, an embedded style of signposting."
- "Innocent people who are arrested become fodder for the justice system."
Etymology
From Middle English fodder, foder, from Old English fōdor (“feed; fodder”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōdr, from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą, from *fōdô (“food”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to guard, graze, feed”). Compare Saterland Frisian Fodder, West Frisian foer, Dutch voer (“pasture; fodder”), German Futter (“fodder; feed”), Danish foder, Swedish foder. More at food.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɔdə/
- British English: /ˈfɒdə/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Food.