1
: something fed to domestic animals
especially
: coarse food for cattle, horses, or sheep
2
: inferior or readily available material used to supply a heavy demand
fodder for tabloids
This sort of breezy plot line has become cheap fodder for novelists and screenwriters …—
Sally Bedell
Sally Bedell
fodder
transitive verb
Examples of fodder in a Sentence
His antics always make good fodder for the gossip columnists.
She often used her friends' problems as fodder for her novels.
Recent Examples on the Web
All of that means there's plenty of fodder for an Ars Live discussion.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 2 July 2024
Political discourse Long before the suspect was discovered, the story became fodder for true crime junkies, gossip magazines and television chyrons.
—Dana Munro, Baltimore Sun, 27 June 2024
YouTube is reportedly talking to major record labels about paying them so their artists have an incentive to allow their music to be training fodder for YouTube’s AI models.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 27 June 2024
An apt endeavor, the film turns the climate crisis from clickbait headline fodder to a crucial story of universal concern, kindling for a larger conversation about the maelstrom that will inevitably continue to affect a large swath of the population.
—Holly Jones, Variety, 13 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for fodder 
Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 2 July 2024
Political discourse Long before the suspect was discovered, the story became fodder for true crime junkies, gossip magazines and television chyrons.
—Dana Munro, Baltimore Sun, 27 June 2024
YouTube is reportedly talking to major record labels about paying them so their artists have an incentive to allow their music to be training fodder for YouTube’s AI models.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 27 June 2024
An apt endeavor, the film turns the climate crisis from clickbait headline fodder to a crucial story of universal concern, kindling for a larger conversation about the maelstrom that will inevitably continue to affect a large swath of the population.
—Holly Jones, Variety, 13 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for fodder
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fodder.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near fodder
Cite this Entry
“Fodder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fodder. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fodder
noun
fod·der
ˈfäd-ər 
: coarse dry food (as cornstalks) for livestock
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share