1.
prey; food for animals
An animal that is hunted and eaten by another animal.
小さな魚は大きな魚の餌食になる。
Small fish become prey for larger fish.
ウサギは狐の餌食になりやすい。
Rabbits easily become prey for foxes.
野生の世界では、弱い動物はすぐに強い動物の餌食になってしまう。
In the wild, weak animals quickly become prey for stronger ones.
2.
victim; easy target; prey (figurative)
A person or thing that falls victim to something harmful or exploitative. Often used figuratively for someone taken advantage of.
詐欺師の餌食にならないように気をつけてください。
Please be careful not to fall prey to scammers.
不景気で多くの中小企業が倒産の餌食になった。
Many small and medium businesses fell victim to bankruptcy due to the recession.
ネットに慣れていない若者が、悪質なオンライン詐欺の餌食になるケースが増えている。
There are increasing cases of young people unfamiliar with the internet falling victim to malicious online scams.
餌食 has both a literal sense (an animal hunted and eaten by a predator) and a more common figurative sense (a person or thing that falls victim to something harmful). The figurative usage carries a strong negative connotation of being helplessly consumed or exploited.
KEY PATTERN:
- ～の餌食になる — to become prey to; to fall victim to
- This is by far the most common construction with this word
USAGE:
- The figurative sense is more common in everyday language than the literal one
- Often used in warnings about scams, exploitation, or vulnerability
RELATED WORDS:
- 獲物 — prey; game (what a hunter catches)
- 犠牲 — sacrifice; victim (more formal)
- 被害者 — victim (legal/news contexts)