Phrase guide

jail fodder

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A person with criminal tendencies who is considered to be expendable, worth nothing more than to occupy a jail.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • 2016, Vickie Roach, quoted in Elle Hunt, “Safe space,” The Guardian, 24 November, 2016, The history of Australia since colonisation has been telling us that we’re stupid, dumb, we’re drunks, we’re just jail fodder, we’re all criminals, we’re dirty, we can’t look after our kids, we all sniff petrol, now we do ice.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From jail + fodder, i.e. food to be fed to jails. Probably by analogy with cannon fodder.