carrion

noun

1. (uncountable, usually)Rotting flesh of a dead animal or person.

   “Vultures feed on carrion.”

   “[W]ee ſee by experience, that ſome [brute beasts] feedeth on yͤ graſſe in yͤ fyelds ſome liues in the ayre eating flyes, others vpon yͤ wormes in carin, others wͭ [with] that they fynd vnder the water.”

   “[W]hat disordered slippery decks of a whale-ship are comparable to the unspeakable carrion of those battle-fields from which so many soldiers return to drink in all ladies' plaudits?”

   “He brought down with him to our haunted house a little cask of salt beef; for, he is always convinced that all salt beef not of his own pickling, is mere carrion, and invariably, when he goes to London, packs a piece in his portmanteau.”

   “And the butterflies are flaunting across the rides in the Forest. Perhaps the Purple Emperor is feasting, as Morris says, upon a mass of putrid carrion at the base of an oak tree.”

2. (figuratively, uncountable, usually)Corrupt or horrid matter.

   “[T]here are melancholy sceptics with a taste for carrion who batten on the hideous facts in history,—persecutions, inquisitions, St. Bartholomew massacres, devilish lives, […]”

   “Roman fashionable society hated Cæsar, and any carrion was welcome to them which would taint his reputation.”

3. (figuratively, obsolete, uncountable, usually)Filth, garbage.
4. (derogatory, figuratively, obsolete, uncountable, usually)The flesh of a living human body; also (Christianity), sinful human nature.

   “Shy[lock]. My ovvne fleſh and blood to rebell. / Salan[io]. Out vpon it old carrion, rebels it as theſe yeares.”

5. (countable, obsolete, uncountable, usually)A dead body; a carcass, a corpse.

   “[T]hey looked like anatomies of death, they spake like ghosts crying out of their graves; they did eate the dead carrions, happy where they could finde them, yea, and one another soone after, insomuch as the very carcasses they spared not to scrape out of their graves; […]”

   “[T]here is here a perpetual Garriſon of Engliſh, but they are of Engliſh Dogs, vvhich are let out in the night to guard the Ships, and eat the Carrens up and dovvn the Streets, and ſo they are ſhut up again in the Morning.”

6. (countable, figuratively, obsolete, uncountable, usually)An animal which is in poor condition or worthless; also, an animal which is a pest or vermin.

   “[L]ords will by their wils / Rather haue one wodcock, than a thouſand dawſe. / Wodcocks ar meate, daws ar carren, wey this clauſe. / In dede ſir (ſaid the daw) I muſt needes agree, / Lords loue to eate you, and not to eate mee.”

   “Let carren and barren, be ſhifted awaie, / for beſt is the beſt, whatſoeuer ye paie.”

   “Having ſhevved you the moſt deſireable, uſefull, and beneficiall creatures, vvith the moſt offenſive carrions that belong to our VVilderneſſe, it remaines in the next place, to ſhevv you ſuch kinds of Fovvle as the Countrey affoords: […]”

7. (countable, derogatory, figuratively, obsolete, uncountable, usually)A contemptible or worthless person.

   “And vvhat other Oath, / Then Honeſty to Honeſty ingag'd, / That this ſhall be, or vve vvill fall for it. / Svveare Prieſts and Covvards, and men Cautelous / Old feeble Carrions, and ſuch ſuffering Soules / That vvelcome vvrongs: […]”

   “[…] Pegg Kite, […] will be, I doubt, a troublesome carrion to us executors; but if she will not be ruled, I shall fling up my executorship.”

adj

1. (derogatory)Pertaining to, or made up of, rotting flesh.

   “Theſe glotõs daily kil thẽſelf their own handes, ⁊ no man findeth fault, but carieth his cariẽ corſe into yͤ quere, and wͭ much ſolẽne ſeruice, burieth yͤ body boldly at the hie alter, whẽ thei haue at their life (as thapoſtle ſaith) made theyr belly their god, ⁊ liked to know none other: […]”

   “This coouie [i.e., covey of harpies] rauenouſe, and ſwift with a deſperat onſet, / They gripte in tallants the meat, and foorth ſpourged a ſtincking / Foule carrayne ſauoure: […]”

   “You'l aske me vvhy I rather chooſe to haue / A vveight of carrion fleſh, then to receiue / Three thouſand Ducats?”

2. (figuratively)Disgusting, horrid, rotten.

   “[T]he baseness, the foul, the stinking, the carrion baseness, of the fellows that call themselves "country gentlemen," is, […] that, while they are thus bold with regard to the working and poor people, they never even whisper a word against pensioners, placemen, soldiers, parsons, fundholders, tax-gatherers, or tax-eaters! They say not a word against the prolific dead-weight, to whom they GIVE A PREMIUM FOR BREEDING, while they want to check the population of labourers!”

   “'But as for you, ye carrion rogues,' turning to the three men in the rigging—'for you, I mean to mince ye up for the try-pots;' and, seizing a rope, he applied it with all his might to the backs of the two traitors, till they yelled no more, but lifelessly hung their heads sideways, as the two crucified thieves are drawn.”

3. (derogatory, figuratively)Of the living human body, the soul, etc.: fleshly, mortal, sinful.

   “Shees bitter to her country, heare me Paris, / For euery falſe drop in her bavvdy veines, / A Grecians life hath ſunke: for euery ſcruple / Of her contaminated carrion vvaight, / A Troyan hath beene ſlaine.”

4. (obsolete)Very thin; emaciated, skeletonlike.
5. (obsolete)Of or pertaining to death.

   “O hell! vvhat haue vve heere, a carrion death? / VVithin vvhoſe empty eye there is a vvritten ſcroule, / Ile reade the vvriting.”

name

1. A surname.