cannon fodder

Definitions

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

Equivalents

Examples

“"A foolish old half-pay officer," boomed Sir Hilton. "Go back to your club, sir, and play⟳ bridge with other superannuated cannon-fodder, sir."”

“Soviet communism is trying to make⟳ these nations into colonies, and to use⟳ their people as cannon fodder in new wars of conquest.”

“A Russian governor in Siberia has been confronted by angry citizens who blamed him for deploying a local riot police unit to Ukraine to become⟳ “cannon fodder”, a video clip circulating online showed.”

“It is arrogant to simply dismiss San Marino and say⟳ they should not be playing qualifiers at this level but it is hard to see⟳ what England and manager Southgate learned from this one-sided, rather soulless experience⟳ against a team who were little more than cannon fodder.”

CEFR level