roadkill

/roʊdkɪl/

Other forms: roadkills

Roadkill means the dead body of an animal that's been hit by a car. Some people are so sensitive they can't stand to look at roadkill.

Animals that die on a highway, usually because they've been struck by a vehicle, are roadkill. You can also spell it as two words, road kill. The word is fairly modern, from the early 1970's, in part because before cars were invented — and before there were so many of them on the roads — there weren't so many animals affected by the transportation of humans. Use the term figuratively when someone feels unwanted: "I felt like roadkill when you didn't invite me."

Definitions of roadkill

1. noun

   the dead body of an animal that has been killed on a road by a vehicle
   “vultures usually feed on carrion or roadkill”

   type of:

   body, dead body

   a natural object consisting of a dead animal or person