# cannon fodder

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. Military forces considered to be expendable.
2. Any group of contestants that have no hope of success.
3. Artillery ammunition.
4. An expendable minor character primarily included to make the protagonist(s) stand out.

## Etymology
Mid-19th century, from cannon (“artillery piece”) + fodder (“food”), a calque of German Kanonenfutter, itself possibly a calque of English food for powder. See the German for more.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cannon-fodder