fodder

1 of 4

noun (1)

fod·​der ˈfä-dər 

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

fodder transitive verb

fother

2 of 4

noun (2)

foth·​er

ˈfät͟hə(r)

variants or fodder

-ädə- 

plural -s

1

now dialectal, England : load

especially : wagonload

2

: any of various units of weight for lead

especially : a modern unit equal to 19½ hundredweights

fother

3 of 4

"

dialectal variant of fodder

fother

4 of 4

transitive verb

"

-ed/-ing/-s

: to cover (a sail or piece of canvas) especially with oakum or rope yarn for use in temporarily stopping a leak in the hull of a ship

Examples of fodder in a Sentence

Noun (1)

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

Noun

Leviticus has more on its mind than translating real-life issues into genre fodder, however. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 June 2026

My mother treated food television as background fodder, something that was only half paid attention to. — Literary Hub, 15 June 2026

And even as the offers have dried up amid a growing anti-trans backlash, Cox’s personal life and family history remain tabloid fodder. — Grace Byron, New Yorker, 14 June 2026

The 2026 Iran war, a conflict centered on Iran that was initiated by the United States and Israel, also provided fodder for AI slop and slopaganda. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Old English fōdor; akin to Old High German fuotar food — more at food

Noun (2)

Middle English, from Old English fōther; akin to Old High German fuodar cartload, Old English fæthm embracing or outstretched arms

Transitive verb

probably modification of Low German fodern to line, from Middle Low German vōderen, from vōder lining; akin to Gothic fodr sheath

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing fodder

• cannon fodder

Rhymes for fodder

• broader
• dodder
• odder
• solder
• marauder

Kids Definition

fodder

noun

fod·​der ˈfäd-ər 

: coarse dry food (as cornstalks) for livestock