fodder

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒdə(r)

Noun

fodder (countable and uncountable, plural fodders)

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. (historical) A load: various English units of weight or volume based upon standardized cartloads of certain commodities, generally around 1000 kg.
   • 1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 1, page 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. (figuratively) Stuff; material; something that 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)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎:

     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^[sic] as GEGS -> SCRAMBLED EGGS but a normal clue where where^[sic] the fodder and anagrind are *both* indirect.

   • 2012, David Astle, Puzzled: Secrets and clues from a life in words

     Insane 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.

Verb

fodder (third-person singular simple present fodders, present participle foddering, simple past and past participle foddered)

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

Anagrams

• forded

Alternative forms

• foddre, fodre, foder, fodyr, foddur, voddur

Etymology

From Old English fōdor, from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą. Doublet of fother.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfoːdər/

Noun

fodder (uncountable)

1. fodder