How to Use nonfood in a Sentence

nonfood

noun
  • Keep in mind that a lot of food pantries are also always in need of nonfood items.
    — Lindsay Lee Wallace, SELF, 24 Feb. 2023
  • Why do cats lick and chew plastic bags, power cords and other nonfood items? Veterinarians have noted an unhealthy taste for plastics in some cats but have never convincingly explained it.
    — Kate Wong, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2018
  • For a seriously smelly clog, use tongs to check if a nonfood item is stuck in the garbage disposal.
    — Julia Mitchem, Architectural Digest, 30 Dec. 2024
  • This is a life-saving adaptation for children who often put nonfood items in their mouth.
    — Deesha Philyaw, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2020
  • Shell also is providing a fuel made from sugar cane waste and other nonfood wastes.
    — Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 3 June 2023
  • Food/nonfood-contact surface is not smooth and easily cleanable.
    — Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 29 Apr. 2025
  • To conserve, people are using non-potable water for nonfood uses like laundry.
    — Rachel D’oro, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Sep. 2019
  • The market is offering produce, plants and flowers and other nonfood items.
    — Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 29 May 2020
  • Cialdini writes that gifts of food seem to trigger larger returns than equally valuable nonfood gifts.
    — Attia Qureshi, Time, 1 June 2026
  • The index includes the largest 63 retailers in the industry that sell food and nonfood household items.
    — Dallas News, 31 Jan. 2023
  • The food locker offers food and nonfood items to Carroll Community students and staff free of charge.
    — Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 26 Dec. 2022
  • Rarely, excessive licking could be a sign of a medical condition known as pica, in which nonfood items are ingested.
    — Andy Biggs, Newsweek, 25 Dec. 2024
  • The pregnancy triggers pica, a compulsion to consume nonfood items.
    — Kristen Yoonsoo Kim, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2020
  • Chlorpyrifos will still be permitted for nonfood uses such as on golf courses, turf, utility poles and fence posts as well as in cockroach bait and ant treatments.
    — Coral Davenport, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2021
  • Money for bioenergy technologies have gone to research renewable fuels from nonfood sources.
    — The Washington Post, NOLA.com, 1 Feb. 2018
  • While in the scanner, study participants smelled a variety of food and nonfood odors, including pot roast, cinnamon rolls, garlic, and fir trees.
    — Eva Frederick, Science | AAAS, 17 Oct. 2019
  • Food/nonfood-contact surface is not durable, corrosion resistant and nonabsorbent.
    — Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 3 Oct. 2025
  • The entertainment industry, social media and celebrity culture are all big drivers in nonfood uses of other species.
    — Gina Errico, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2023
  • Soap — which was grated over toast — was another odd nonfood pregnancy craving that Jacob-Ebbinghaus tried in the research process.
    — Ashlyn Messier, Fox News, 17 Sep. 2024
  • Meanwhile, the government urged Indian farmers to grow nonfood export crops to earn foreign currency.
    — Glenn Davis Stone, The Conversation, 4 Oct. 2023
  • Benefits cannot be used to buy alcohol, tobacco products, vitamins, live animals, prepared foods, or any nonfood household items.
    — Rachel Schilke, Washington Examiner, 3 Jan. 2024
  • Nearly 30 percent of pregnant women crave nonfood items, an eating disorder called pica — from the Latin word for magpie, a bird known to eat anything.
    — Tasha Eichenseher, Discover Magazine, 19 Nov. 2013
  • Meta has reportedly fired a handful of staffers who have been abusing the company’s $25 meal stipend, spending the money on nonfood items or having meals delivered to their homes.
    — Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2024
  • China’s consumer inflation eased to its lowest level in more than two years, as food and nonfood prices moderated, official data showed Thursday.
    — wsj.com, 11 May 2023
  • Food/nonfood-contact surface is not designed and constructed to allow easy cleaning and/or facilitate maintenance.
    — Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 29 Apr. 2025
  • At the Tofurky facility, an X-ray machine scans the internal structure of the roasts to check for foreign objects or other nonfood items such as plastic or metal.
    — Lee Powell, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023
  • The incident happened after Bosco ingested some nonfood items, forcing authorities to take him to the hospital earlier in the day, police said.
    — Eduardo Medina, SFChronicle.com, 19 July 2019
  • Sales of nonfood items jumped more than 20% in the quarter, aided by government stimulus checks as customers splurged on recreation, home improvement and apparel items, the company said.
    — Sarah Nassauer, WSJ, 18 May 2021
  • He had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and had a compulsive eating disorder that compelled him to eat nonfood items.
    — Paighten Harkins, The Salt Lake Tribune, 30 Apr. 2022
  • The identity of the Western rancher or the farmer—already tied to stewardship of the land—is expanding to encompass cultivating nonfood plants and animals.
    — Emma Marris, The Atlantic, 5 June 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nonfood.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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