Dictionary

cannon fodder en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Mid-19th century, from cannon (“artillery piece”) + fodder (“food”), a calque of German Kanonenfutter, itself possibly a calque of English food for powder. See the German for more.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) Military forces considered to be expendable.
   • "A foolish old half-pay officer," boomed Sir Hilton. "Go back to your club, sir, and play bridge with other superannuated cannon-fodder, sir." 1930, Frank Richards, The Magnet: Victory for the Rebels:
   • Soviet communism is trying to make these nations into colonies, and to use their people as cannon fodder in new wars of conquest. 1951 January 8, Harry S. Truman, State of the Union Address:
   • A Russian governor in Siberia has been confronted by angry citizens who blamed him for deploying a local riot police unit to Ukraine to become “cannon fodder”, a video clip circulating online showed. 2022 March 8, Pjotr Sauer, “‘They were sent as cannon fodder’: Siberian governor confronted by relatives of Russian unit”, in The Guardian:
2. (broadly, uncountable) Any group of contestants that have no hope of success.
   • It is arrogant to simply dismiss San Marino and say they should not be playing qualifiers at this level but it is hard to see what England and manager Southgate learned from this one-sided, rather soulless experience against a team who were little more than cannon fodder. 2021 March 25, Phil McNulty, “England 5-0 San Marino”, in BBC Sport:
3. (rare, uncountable) Artillery ammunition.
4. (slang, uncountable) An expendable minor character primarily included to make the protagonist(s) stand out.

Forms

Coordinates

forlorn hope

Translations (44)

hu ágyútöltelék (military forces considered to be expendable) · nl kanonnenvoer (military forces considered to be expendable) · cy ysglyfaeth gynnau (military forces considered to be expendable) · sv kanonmat (military forces considered to be expendable) · de Kanonenfutter (military forces considered to be expendable) · ka ქვემეხის ხორცი (military forces considered to be expendable) · el κανονιοτροφή (military forces considered to be expendable) · ko 대포밥 (military forces considered to be expendable) · nb kanonføde (military forces considered to be expendable) · ko 총알받이 (military forces considered to be expendable) · cy bwyd i'r gynnau (military forces considered to be expendable) · nb kanonfôr (military forces considered to be expendable) · sv kanonföda (military forces considered to be expendable) · pt carne de canhão (military forces considered to be expendable) · hi कैनन चारा (military forces considered to be expendable) · sh topovsko meso (military forces considered to be expendable) · ga bia gunna mhóir (military forces considered to be expendable) · nl kanonnenvlees (military forces considered to be expendable) · ka ქვემეხის საკვები (military forces considered to be expendable) · da kanonføde (military forces considered to be expendable) · hi तोप-चारा (military forces considered to be expendable) · fi tykinruoka (military forces considered to be expendable) · ja 砲弾の餌食 (military forces considered to be expendable) · kk оқ жемі (military forces considered to be expendable) · pl mięso armatnie (military forces considered to be expendable) · fr chair à canon (military forces considered to be expendable) · he בְּשַׂר תּוֹתָחִים (military forces considered to be expendable) · lv lielgabalgaļa (military forces considered to be expendable) · sk potrava pre delá (military forces considered to be expendable) · ar وَقُود مِدْفَع (military forces considered to be expendable) · ro carne de tun (military forces considered to be expendable) · lt patrankų mėsa (military forces considered to be expendable) · cs kanónenfutr (military forces considered to be expendable) · it carne da cannone (military forces considered to be expendable) · et kahuriliha (military forces considered to be expendable) · hi युद्ध बलि (military forces considered to be expendable) · ca carn de canó (military forces considered to be expendable) · cmn 炮灰 (military forces considered to be expendable) · sl topovsko meso (military forces considered to be expendable) · pt bucha de canhão (military forces considered to be expendable) · ar وَقُود حَرْب (military forces considered to be expendable) · sh топовско месо (military forces considered to be expendable) · ar عَلَف مِدْفَع (military forces considered to be expendable) · es carne de cañón (military forces considered to be expendable)