roadkilln.
/ˈrəʊdkɪl/, U.S. /ˈroʊdˌkɪl/ Originally North American.
1.
a. An accidental killing of an animal by a vehicle on the road.
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the world > life > death > killing > killing of animals > [noun] > by specific method
cabaging1575
spearing1784
pithing1806
pig-sticking1821
worry1847
shechita1875
halal1888
estocada1910
lethalling1925
roadkill1943
autocide1967
1943 Ecol. Monogr. 13 196 From the above table one can readily see that road kills are relatively unimportant to Hungarian partridge abundance in this region.
1976 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 28 Mar. 7/2 Road kills have taken a few sheep of breeding age annually.
1979 Washington Post 28 Dec. (Weekend section) 40/1 Road kills represent no danger to the deer population, which is larger than it ever has been before.
1990 Sci. Amer. Aug. 9/2 An exploding deer population pushed roadkills in the Oak Ridge area to an all-time high five years ago.
b. The number of animals killed by vehicles on the road (in a particular period, region, etc.).
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1944 Jrnl. Mammalogy 25 180 The lowest road kill noted in Ohio was 5.7 birds per 1,000 miles.
1950 Mansfield (Ohio) News-Jrnl. 17 Sept. 25/4 The report shows a total wildlife road kill of 96 game birds.
1961 H. H. T. Jackson Mammals Wisconsin 342 The road kill by automobiles is rather high when one takes into consideration the comparative scarcity of the mammal.
2007 R. Lovegrove Silent Fields vii. 190 Morris believes that annual roadkill in the first few years of the present century..is probably in the region of 12,000 to 15,000.
c. An animal killed by a vehicle on the road. Also as a mass noun.
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the world > life > death > killing > person killed > [noun] > animal killed by vehicle
roadkill1946
1946 Amer. Midland Naturalist 36 43 Examinations of road kills..lead us to believe that the wild birds complete each molt in less time than do pen reared birds.
1951 Copeia 28 Dec. 307 One snake, a road kill, contained a partially digested Microtis longicaudus.
1979 Washington Post 28 Dec. (Weekend section) 40/1 I've raised three kids and fed two wives on road-kills.
1987 C. Hiaasen Double Whammy (1988) iii. 34 ‘Road kill,’ Skink said, by way of explanation. ‘You hungry, Miami?’
2006 Dogs Monthly July 69/3 This dead dog had been picked up and taken to a knackers' yard where it was weighed in with the other road kill—3 badgers.
2. figurative and in extended use. Something useless, insignificant, or moribund; a helpless victim.
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the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > [noun] > that which is useless > useless person or thing
cumber-worldc1374
cumber-house1541
deaf nut1613
cumber-ground1657
dead duck1844
no good1871
dead wood1877
dead wood1887
blue duck1889
dud1897
cluck1904
non-starter1911
dead loss1927
dreep1927
write-off1935
no-gooder1936
nogoodnik1936
blivet1967
roadkill1990
1990 A. MacDonald Goodnight Desdemona ii. ii. 45 Next to her I'm just a little wimp. A rodent. Road-kill.
1992 Philadelphia Inquirer 22 Aug. d1/6 Expected to be little more than road kill for opponents,..fifth place Houston had managed a 9-14 record on the 28-day trip.
1993 Esquire Dec. 72/2 We all know any number of men who can cook a virtuoso..dish or two, but outside of this they are strictly roadkills in the kitchen.
2006 Private Eye 7 July 6/2 This has gone down very well with the paper-obsessed, soon-to-be journalistic roadkill that is the Daily Telegraph news room.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1943