car·ri·on

(kăr′ē-ən)

Dead and decaying flesh.

adj.

1. Of or similar to dead and decaying flesh.

2. Feeding on such flesh.

[Middle English careine, from Anglo-Norman, from Vulgar Latin *carōnia, from Latin carō, flesh; see sker- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

carrion

(ˈkærɪən)

1. dead and rotting flesh

2. (Zoology) (modifier) eating carrion: carrion beetles.

3. something rotten or repulsive

[C13: from Anglo-French caroine, ultimately from Latin carō flesh]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

car•ri•on

(ˈkær i ən)

n.

1. dead and putrefying flesh.

adj.

2. feeding on carrion.

[1175–1225; Middle English careyn, carion < Anglo-French careine, Old French charo(i)gne < Vulgar Latin *caronia= Latin carun- (see caruncle) + -ia -y³]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

carrion - the dead and rotting body of an animal; unfit for human food

dead body, body - a natural object consisting of a dead animal or person; "they found the body in the lake"

Translations

جِيفَـه

mršinazdechlina

ådsel

hræ

dvėsenamaita

maita

zdochlina

leş

腐肉

carrion

[ˈkærɪən]

A. N → carroña f

B. CPD carrion crow N → corneja f negra

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

carrion

[ˈkærɪən] n → charogne f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

carrion

n → Aas nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

carrion

[ˈkærɪən] n → carogna

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

carrion

(ˈkӕriən) noun

dead animal flesh, eaten by other animals. Vultures feed on carrion.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"That,' said the Buzzard to his mate, "is the distinguished author of that glorious fable, 'The Ostrich and the Keg of Raw Nails.' I regret to add, that he wrote, also, 'The Buzzard's Feast,' in which a carrion diet is contumeliously disparaged.

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"That I should have lived to witness the reality of the fabled Carrion Caves!

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To these observations I may add, on the high authority of Azara, that the Carrancha feeds on worms, shells, slugs, grasshoppers, and frogs; that it destroys young lambs by tearing the umbilical cord; and that it pursues the Gallinazo, till that bird is compelled to vomit up the carrion it may have recently gorged.

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Wheat he gave to rich folk, millet to the poor, Broken scraps for holy men that beg from door to door; Battle to the tiger, carrion to the kite, And rags and bones to wicked wolves without the wall at night.

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And beside him, equally hideous, stood two powerful hyenas--carrion-eaters consorting with carrion.

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Greedy for carrion, and sure that this must be a fresh corpse, the bird swooped down upon the boy.

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The blue-gray bandy legged dog ran merrily along the side of the road, sometimes in proof of its agility and self-satisfaction lifting one hind leg and hopping along on three, and then again going on all four and rushing to bark at the crows that sat on the carrion. The dog was merrier and sleeker than it had been in Moscow.

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And I shall know that I must die, at sea most likely, cease crawling of myself to be all a-crawl with the corruption of the sea; to be fed upon, to be carrion, to yield up all the strength and movement of my muscles that it may become strength and movement in fin and scale and the guts of fishes.

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Tarzan of the Apes is not for Ska, eater of carrion. Go back to the lair of Dango and feed off the leavings of the hyenas, for Tarzan will leave no bones for Ska to pick in this empty wilderness of death."

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But even granting the charge in question to be true; what disordered slippery decks of a whale-ship are comparable to the unspeakable carrion of those battle-fields from which so many soldiers return to drink in all ladies' plaudits?

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The HOUYHNHNMS keep the YAHOOS for present use in huts not far from the house; but the rest are sent abroad to certain fields, where they dig up roots, eat several kinds of herbs, and search about for carrion, or sometimes catch weasels and LUHIMUHS (a sort of wild rat), which they greedily devour.

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On the following Tuesday I was out with my dog and gun, in pursuit of such game as I could find within the territory of Linden-Car; but finding none at all, I turned my arms against the hawks and carrion crows, whose depredations, as I suspected, had deprived me of better prey.

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