carrion

noun

car·​ri·​on ˈker-ē-ən 

ˈka-rē-

: dead and putrefying flesh

Vultures live chiefly on carrion.

also : flesh unfit for food

Examples of carrion in a Sentence

Vultures live chiefly on carrion.

Recent Examples on the Web

Goetz also calls out juniper and boxwood foliage for notoriously smelling like cat urine, hawthorn tree flowers for smelling like carrion, and the flashy flowers of crown fritillaria (Fritillaria imperialis) bulbs for mimicking a skunk. —Erica Browne Grivas, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 Oct. 2024

Nautiluses feed on a diet of small fish, crustaceans and carrion. —Scott Travers, Forbes, 7 Sep. 2024

Here, the carrion in question was the Cuban American artist Jorge Pardo, who’d designed and built the house as a commission for Los Angeles MoCA. —Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2024

This is because when the corpse flower blooms, its temperature raises to help create the potent scent, attracting the plant’s pollinators (which are unsurprisingly bugs like flies or carrion beetles). —Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English caroine, from Anglo-French caroine, charoine, from Vulgar Latin *caronia, irregular from Latin carn-, caro flesh — more at carnal

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing carrion

• carrion crow

Kids Definition

carrion

noun

car·​ri·​on ˈkar-ē-ən 

: dead and decaying flesh