Fodder

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -É’dÉ™(r)

Origin

From Middle English, from Old English fōdor, from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (compare West Frisian foer, Dutch voer 'pasture, fodder', German Futter 'feed', Danish and Swedish foder), from *fōdô 'food', from Proto-Indo-European *pat- 'to feed', *peh₂- ("to guard, graze, feed"). More at food.

Full definition of fodder

Noun

1. Food for animals; that which is fed to cattle, horses, and sheep, such as hay, cornstalks, vegetables, etc.
• 1598?, William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona,Act I, scene I:The sheep for fodder follow the shepherd, the shepherd for food follows not the sheep.
2. A weight by which lead and some other metals were formerly sold, in England, varying from 19 1/2 to 24 cwt (993 to 1222 kg).; a fother.
• 1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, Volume 1, p. 168: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.
3. (slang, drafting, design) Tracing paper.
4. (figurative) Something which serves as inspiration or encouragement, especially for satire or humour.
• 2012, April 29, Nathan Rabin, TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)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.
5. (cryptic crosswords) The text to be operated on (anagrammed, etc.) within a clue.
• 2009, "Colin Blackburn", another 1-off cryptic clue. (on newsgroup rec.puzzles.crosswords)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 as GEGS -> SCRAMBLED EGGS but a normal clue where where the fodder and anagrind are *both* indirect.
• 2012, David Astle, Puzzled: Secrets and clues from a life in wordsInsane 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.

Synonyms

• (animal food) provender

Derived terms

• cannon fodder
• fodder radish

Verb

1. (dialect) To feed animals (with fodder).

Anagrams

• forded