From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Carrion \Car"ri*on\, noun [OE. caroyne, OF. caroigne, F. charogne, LL. caronia, fr. L. caro flesh Cf. {Crone}, {Crony}.]
1. 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. --Spenser.
2. A contemptible or worthless person; -- a term of reproach. [Obs.] ''Old feeble carrions.'' --Shak.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Carrion \Car"ri*on\, adjective Of or pertaining to dead and putrefying carcasses; feeding on carrion.
A prey for carrion kites. --Shak.
{Carrion beetle} (Zo["o]l.), any beetle that feeds habitually on dead animals; -- also called {sexton beetle} and {burying beetle}. There are many kinds, belonging mostly to the family {Silphid[ae]}.
{Carrion buzzard} (Zo["o]l.), 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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: dead and rotting flesh; unfit for human food
2: the dead and rotting body of an animal
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
88 Moby Thesaurus words for "carrion": ashes, bilge, bilgewater, body, bones, cadaver, carcass, caries, clay, corpse, corpus delicti, corruption, crowbait, dandruff, dead body, dead man, dead person, decay, decedent, decomposition, dishwater, ditchwater, dry bones, dry rot, dust, earth, embalmed corpse, excrement, filth, food for worms, foul matter, foulness, furfur, gangrene, garbage, late lamented, mess, mortal remains, mortification, muck, mucus, mummification, mummy, necrosis, obscenity, offal, offscourings, ordure, organic remains, pus, putrefaction, putrescence, putrid matter, putridity, putridness, rancidity, rancidness, rankness, refuse, relics, reliquiae, remains, riffraff, rot, rottenness, scum, scurf, scuz, sewage, sewerage, skeleton, slime, slop, slops, slough, smut, sphacelation, sphacelus, spoilage, stiff, swill, tenement of clay, the dead, the deceased, the defunct, the departed, the loved one, tooth decay
Define.com is a registered nonprofit corporation dedicated solely to the global public interest and the advancement of humanity. It belongs to all of us who have a desire to promote electronic democracy, science, creativity, imagination, reason, critical thinking, peace, race and gender equality, civil rights, equal access to education, personal liberty, free speech, animal rights, compassionate and nonviolent parenting, social and economic justice, global monetary reform, Secular Humanism, cognitive liberty and a permanent cessation of The War on Drugs.
Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
0