buzzard bait
American slang for a corpse, dead meat, or someone so close to death that the vultures might as well start circling.
Definitions
American slang for a corpse, dead meat, or someone so close to death that the vultures might as well start circling. The phrase conjures up wide-open Western or Southern landscapes where buzzards wheel lazily in the sky above something — or someone — that's no longer walking around. Used humorously to describe a very old or exhausted person, or darkly to threaten someone. It's vivid, visceral, and undeniably evocative.
After three days in the desert without water, he figured he was nothing but buzzard bait.
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(slang) Dead meat; a corpse.
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(US, obsolete) A bird of prey mentioned in New England historical accounts, probably the osprey, .
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(US, folklore) A fictional buzzard-like bird with a bell attached, whose ringing is an omen of disaster.
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(slang) A car or truck that is speeding and is likely to attract the attention of the highway patrol.
- crowbait65%
An old American term for a horse so worn out, bony, and useless that it looks fit only to be left out for the crows to pick at. By extension, it can describe anything — or anyone — who is run-down, exhausted, and past their prime. Cowboys and ranchers used this as a blunt assessment of a horse with no resale value or working life left. Today it occasionally surfaces as a colorful, slightly affectionate insult for a person who looks rough around the edges.