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/kˈɛriən/ Listen

noun

Carrion n.

The dead and putrefying body or flesh of an animal; flesh so corrupted as to be unfit for food. "They did eat the dead carrions."

A contemptible or worthless person; a term of reproach. (Obs.) "Old feeble carrions."

adjective

Carrion adj. Of or pertaining to dead and putrefying carcasses; feeding on carrion. "A prey for carrion kites."

Carrion beetle (Zool.), any beetle that feeds habitually on dead animals; also called sexton beetle and burying beetle. There are many kinds, belonging mostly to the family Silphidae.

Carrion buzzard (Zool.), a South American bird of several species and genera (as Ibycter, Milvago, and Polyborus), which act as scavengers. See Caracara.

Carrion crow, the common European crow (Corvus corone) which feeds on carrion, insects, fruits, and seeds.

See images of 'Carrion'

Etymology of 'Carrion'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Carrion" Quotes from Famous Books

... the inquest, glimmered the talismanic legend 'Resurgam—I will rise again!' It was the corpse of Mark Wylder, which had lain buried here undiscovered for many months. A horrible odour loaded the air. Perhaps it was this smell of carrion, from which horses sometimes recoil with a special terror, that caused the swerving and rearing which had ended so fatally. At that moment we heard a voice calling, and raising our eyes, saw Uncle Lorne looking down from the rock ...

— Wylder's Hand • J. Sheridan Le Fanu

... will furnish us with another parallel case. Mariana, the classical historian of Spain, tells the story of the ill-starred marriage which the King Don Alonso brought about between the heirs of Carrion and the two daughters of the Cid. The Cid bestowed a princely dower on the sons-in-law. But the young men were base and proud, cowardly and cruel. They were tried in danger, and found wanting. They fled before ...

— Lays of Ancient Rome • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... Were as a carrion's cry To lullaby Such as I'd sing to thee - Were I thy bride! A feather's press Were leaden heaviness To my caress. But then, ...

— Songs of a Savoyard • W. S. Gilbert

... of wicked ones; Whereof the limbs disparted, trunks and heads, Offal and marrow, littered all the way. By such a path the king passed, sore afeared If he had known of fear, for the air stank With carrion stench, sickly to breathe; and lo! Presently 'thwart the pathway foamed a flood Of boiling waves, rolling down corpses. This They crossed, and then the Asipatra wood Spread black in sight, whereof the ...

— Indian Poetry • Edwin Arnold

... mouth, by the currents of the delicate ciliae which clothe every tentacle. The fact is, that the Madrepore, like those glorious sea-anemones whose living flowers stud every pool, is by profession a scavenger and a feeder on carrion; and being as useful as he is beautiful, really comes under the rule which he seems at first to break, that handsome ...

— Glaucus; or The Wonders of the Shore • Charles Kingsley

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