: dead and putrefying flesh
Vultures live chiefly on carrion.
also
: flesh unfit for food
Examples of carrion in a Sentence
Vultures live chiefly on carrion.
Recent Examples on the Web
Skunks occasionally eat garbage and carrion.
—
Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 15 Oct. 2025
Their pungent odors attract not only the carrion insects – beetles and flies normally drawn to decomposing meat – that pollinate the plants, but also crowds of onlookers curious about the rare, elaborate display and that putrid scent.
—Delphine Farmer, The Conversation, 16 Sep. 2025
The small white plane circled — the stadium, the team, the season — like a vulture circling carrion.
—Miami Herald, 14 Sep. 2025
Their eyesight is exceptionally keen, capable of spotting small prey or carrion from high in the air.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 27 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for carrion
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Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 15 Oct. 2025
Their pungent odors attract not only the carrion insects – beetles and flies normally drawn to decomposing meat – that pollinate the plants, but also crowds of onlookers curious about the rare, elaborate display and that putrid scent.
—Delphine Farmer, The Conversation, 16 Sep. 2025
The small white plane circled — the stadium, the team, the season — like a vulture circling carrion.
—Miami Herald, 14 Sep. 2025
Their eyesight is exceptionally keen, capable of spotting small prey or carrion from high in the air.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 27 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for carrion
Cite this Entry
“Carrion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carrion. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
carrion
noun
car·ri·on
ˈkar-ē-ən 
: dead and decaying flesh
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