Adjacent Words

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FEED, v.t. pret. and pp. [See Father.]
1. To give food to; as, to feed an infant; to feed horses and oxen.
2. To supply with provisions. We have flour and meat enough to feed the army a month.
3. To supply; to furnish with any thing of which there is constant consumption, waste or use. Springs, feed ponds, lakes and rivers; ponds and streams feed canals. Mills are fed from hoppers.
4. To graze; to cause to be cropped by feeding, as herbage by cattle If grain is too forward in autumn, feed it with sheep.
5. To nourish; to cherish; to supply with nutriment; as, to feed hope or expectation; to feed vanity.
6. To keep in hope or expectation; as, to feed one with hope.
7. To supply fuel; as, to feed a fire.
8. To delight; to supply with something desirable; to entertain; as, to feed the eye with the beauties of a landscape.
9. To give food or fodder for fattening; to fatten. The county of Hampshire, in Massachusetts, feeds a great number of cattle for slaughter.
10. To supply with food, and to lead, guard and protect; a scriptural sense.
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. Isaiah 40.
FEED, v.i.
1. To take food; to eat.
2. To subsist by eating; to prey. Some birds feed on seeds and berries, others on flesh.
3. To pasture; to graze; to place cattle to feed. Exodus 22.
4. To grow fat.
FEED, n.
1. Food; that which is eaten; pasture; fodder; applied to that which is eaten by beasts, not to the food of men. The hills of our country furnish the best feed for sheep.
2. Meal, or act of eating.
For such pleasure till that hour at feed or fountain never had I found.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: food for domestic livestock [syn: feed, provender] v
1: provide as food; "Feed the guests the nuts"
2: give food to; "Feed the starving children in India"; "don't give the child this tough meat" [syn: feed, give] [ant: famish, starve]
3: feed into; supply; "Her success feeds her vanity"
4: introduce continuously; "feed carrots into a food processor" [syn: feed, feed in]
5: support or promote; "His admiration fed her vanity"
6: take in food; used of animals only; "This dog doesn't eat certain kinds of meat"; "What do whales eat?" [syn: feed, eat]
7: serve as food for; be the food for; "This dish feeds six"
8: move along, of liquids; "Water flowed into the cave"; "the Missouri feeds into the Mississippi" [syn: run, flow, feed, course]
9: profit from in an exploitatory manner; "He feeds on her insecurity" [syn: prey, feed]
10: gratify; "feed one's eyes on a gorgeous view" [syn: feed, feast]
11: provide with fertilizers or add nutrients to; "We should fertilize soil if we want to grow healthy plants" [syn: fertilize, fertilise, feed]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (fed; feeding) Etymology: Middle English feden, from Old English f?dan; akin to Old English f?da food — more at food Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. a. to give food to b. to give as food 2. a. to furnish something essential to the development, sustenance, maintenance, or operation of <reading feeds the mind> b. to supply (material to be operated on) to a machine 3. to produce or provide food for 4. a. satisfy, gratify b. support, encourage 5. a. (1) to supply for use or consumption (2) channel, route b. (1) to supply (a signal) to an electronic circuit (2) to send (as by wire or satellite) to a transmitting station for broadcast 6. to supply (a fellow actor) with cues and situations that make a role more effective 7. to pass a ball or puck to (a teammate) especially for a shot at the goal intransitive verb 1. a. to consume food ; eat b. prey — used with on, upon, or off 2. to become nourished or satisfied or sustained as if by food 3. a. to become channeled or directed b. to move into a machine or opening in order to be used or processed II. noun Date: 1576 1. a. an act of eating b. meal; especially a large meal 2. a. food for livestock; specifically a mixture or preparation for feeding livestock b. the amount given at each feeding 3. a. material supplied (as to a furnace or machine) b. a mechanism by which the action of feeding is effected c. the motion or process of carrying forward the material to be operated upon (as in a machine) d. the act or process of feeding a signal (as an audio or video transmission); also the signal being fed 4. the action of passing a ball or puck to a team member who is in position to score

Britannica Concise

Foodstuff grown or developed for livestock and poultry to maintain the health of the animals and increase the quality of such end products as meat, milk, or eggs. Modern feeds are derived from crops grown specifically for research or from by-products of surplus crops or foods produced for human consumption. Feeds are categorized as either concentrates (high in digestibility of nutrients but low in fiber content) or roughages (high in fiber and comparatively low in digestive nutrients). Most diets consist of a combination of feeds.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. (past and past part. fed) 1 tr. a supply with food. b put food into the mouth of. 2 tr. a give as food, esp. to animals. b graze (cattle). 3 tr. serve as food for. 4 intr. (usu. foll. by on) (esp. of animals, or colloq. of people) take food; eat. 5 tr. nourish; make grow. 6 a tr. maintain supply of raw material, fuel, etc., to (a fire, machine, etc.). b tr. (foll. by into) supply (material) to a machine etc. c intr. (often foll. by into) (of a river etc.) flow into another body of water. d tr. insert further coins into (a meter) to continue its function, validity, etc. 7 intr. (foll. by on) a be nourished by. b derive benefit from. 8 tr. use (land) as pasture. 9 tr. Theatr. sl. supply (an actor etc.) with cues. 10 tr. Sport send passes to (a player) in a ball-game. 11 tr. gratify (vanity etc.). 12 tr. provide (advice, information, etc.) to. --n. 1 an amount of food, esp. for animals or infants. 2 the act or an instance of feeding; the giving of food. 3 colloq. a meal. 4 pasturage; green crops. 5 a a supply of raw material to a machine etc. b the provision of this or a device for it. 6 the charge of a gun. 7 Theatr. sl. an actor who supplies another with cues. Phrases and idioms: feed back produce feedback. feed the fishes 1 meet one's death by drowning. 2 be seasick. feeding-bottle a bottle with a teat for feeding infants. feed up 1 fatten. 2 satiate (cf. fed up (see FED)). Derivatives: feedable adj. Etymology: OE fedan f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fee Fee (f[=e]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Feed (f[=e]d); p. pr. & vb. n. Feeing.] To reward for services performed, or to be performed; to recompense; to hire or keep in hire; hence, to bribe. The patient . . . fees the doctor. --Dryden. There's not a one of them but in his house I keep a servant feed. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Feed Feed, n. 1. That which is eaten; esp., food for beasts; fodder; pasture; hay; grain, ground or whole; as, the best feed for sheep. 2. A grazing or pasture ground. --Shak. 3. An allowance of provender given to a horse, cow, etc.; a meal; as, a feed of corn or oats. 4. A meal, or the act of eating. [R.] For such pleasure till that hour At feed or fountain never had I found. --Milton. 5. The water supplied to steam boilers. 6. (Mach.) (a) The motion, or act, of carrying forward the stuff to be operated upon, as cloth to the needle in a sewing machine; or of producing progressive operation upon any material or object in a machine, as, in a turning lathe, by moving the cutting tool along or in the work. (b) The supply of material to a machine, as water to a steam boiler, coal to a furnace, or grain to a run of stones. (c) The mechanism by which the action of feeding is produced; a feed motion. Feed bag, a nose bag containing feed for a horse or mule. Feed cloth, an apron for leading cotton, wool, or other fiber, into a machine, as for carding, etc. Feed door, a door to a furnace, by which to supply coal. Feed head. (a) A cistern for feeding water by gravity to a steam boiler. (b) (Founding) An excess of metal above a mold, which serves to render the casting more compact by its pressure; -- also called a riser, deadhead, or simply feed or head --Knight. Feed heater. (a) (Steam Engine) A vessel in which the feed water for the boiler is heated, usually by exhaust steam. (b) A boiler or kettle in which is heated food for stock. Feed motion, or Feed gear (Mach.), the train of mechanism that gives motion to the part that directly produces the feed in a machine. Feed pipe, a pipe for supplying the boiler of a steam engine, etc., with water. Feed pump, a force pump for supplying water to a steam boiler, etc. Feed regulator, a device for graduating the operation of a feeder. --Knight. Feed screw, in lathes, a long screw employed to impart a regular motion to a tool rest or tool, or to the work. Feed water, water supplied to a steam boiler, etc. Feed wheel (Mach.), a kind of feeder. See Feeder, n., 8.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Feed Feed, n. 1. That which is eaten; esp., food for beasts; fodder; pasture; hay; grain, ground or whole; as, the best feed for sheep. 2. A grazing or pasture ground. --Shak. 3. An allowance of provender given to a horse, cow, etc.; a meal; as, a feed of corn or oats. 4. A meal, or the act of eating. [R.] For such pleasure till that hour At feed or fountain never had I found. --Milton. 5. The water supplied to steam boilers. 6. (Mach.) (a) The motion, or act, of carrying forward the stuff to be operated upon, as cloth to the needle in a sewing machine; or of producing progressive operation upon any material or object in a machine, as, in a turning lathe, by moving the cutting tool along or in the work. (b) The supply of material to a machine, as water to a steam boiler, coal to a furnace, or grain to a run of stones. (c) The mechanism by which the action of feeding is produced; a feed motion. Feed bag, a nose bag containing feed for a horse or mule. Feed cloth, an apron for leading cotton, wool, or other fiber, into a machine, as for carding, etc. Feed door, a door to a furnace, by which to supply coal. Feed head. (a) A cistern for feeding water by gravity to a steam boiler. (b) (Founding) An excess of metal above a mold, which serves to render the casting more compact by its pressure; -- also called a riser, deadhead, or simply feed or head --Knight. Feed heater. (a) (Steam Engine) A vessel in which the feed water for the boiler is heated, usually by exhaust steam. (b) A boiler or kettle in which is heated food for stock. Feed motion, or Feed gear (Mach.), the train of mechanism that gives motion to the part that directly produces the feed in a machine. Feed pipe, a pipe for supplying the boiler of a steam engine, etc., with water. Feed pump, a force pump for supplying water to a steam boiler, etc. Feed regulator, a device for graduating the operation of a feeder. --Knight. Feed screw, in lathes, a long screw employed to impart a regular motion to a tool rest or tool, or to the work. Feed water, water supplied to a steam boiler, etc. Feed wheel (Mach.), a kind of feeder. See Feeder, n., 8.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Feed Feed, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fed; p. pr. & vb. n. Feeding.] [AS. f?dan, fr. f?da food; akin to C?. f?dian, OFries f?da, f?da, D. voeden, OHG. fuottan, Icel. f[ae]?a, Sw. f["o]da, Dan. f["o]de. ? 75. See Food.] 1. To give food to; to supply with nourishment; to satisfy the physical huger of. If thine enemy hunger, feed him. --Rom. xii. 20. Unreasonable reatures feed their young. --Shak. 2. To satisfy; grafity or minister to, as any sense, talent, taste, or desire. I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. --Shak. Feeding him with the hope of liberty. --Knolles. 3. To fill the wants of; to supply with that which is used or wasted; as, springs feed ponds; the hopper feeds the mill; to feed a furnace with coal. 4. To nourish, in a general sense; to foster, strengthen, develop, and guard. Thou shalt feed people Israel. --2 Sam. v. 2. Mightiest powers by deepest calms are feed. --B. Cornwall. 5. To graze; to cause to be cropped by feeding, as herbage by cattle; as, if grain is too forward in autumn, feed it with sheep. Once in three years feed your mowing lands. --Mortimer. 6. To give for food, especially to animals; to furnish for consumption; as, to feed out turnips to the cows; to feed water to a steam boiler. 7. (Mach.) (a) To supply (the material to be operated upon) to a machine; as, to feed paper to a printing press. (b) To produce progressive operation upon or with (as in wood and metal working machines, so that the work moves to the cutting tool, or the tool to the work).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Feed Feed, v. i. 1. To take food; to eat. Her kid . . . which I afterwards killed because it would not feed. --De Foe. 2. To subject by eating; to satisfy the appetite; to feed one's self (upon something); to prey; -- with on or upon. Leaving thy trunk for crows to feed upon. --Shak. 3. To be nourished, strengthened, or satisfied, as if by food. ``He feeds upon the cooling shade.'' --Spenser. 4. To place cattle to feed; to pasture; to graze. If a man . . . shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field. --Ex. xxii. 5.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(feeds, feeding, fed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you feed a person or animal, you give them food to eat and sometimes actually put it in their mouths. We brought along pieces of old bread and fed the birds... In that part of the world you can feed cattle on almost any green vegetable or fruit... He spooned the ice cream into a cup and fed it to her. VERB: V n, V n on/with n, V n to n, also V pron-refl • Feed is also a noun. (mainly BRIT) She's had a good feed. N-COUNT • feeding The feeding of dairy cows has undergone a revolution. 2. To feed a family or a community means to supply food for them. Feeding a hungry family can be expensive . ...a food reserve large enough to feed the Sudanese population for many months. VERB: V n, V n 3. When an animal feeds, it eats or drinks something. After a few days the caterpillars stopped feeding... Slugs feed on decaying plant and animal material. VERB: V, V on/off n 4. When a baby feeds, or when you feed it, it drinks breast milk or milk from a bottle. When a baby is thirsty, it feeds more often... I knew absolutely nothing about handling or feeding a baby. VERB: V, V n 5. Animal feed is food given to animals, especially farm animals. The grain just rotted and all they could use it for was animal feed. ...poultry feed. N-MASS: usu n N 6. To feed something to a place, means to supply it to that place in a steady flow. ...blood vessels that feed blood to the brain. ...gas fed through pipelines. VERB: V n prep, V n prep 7. If you feed something into a container or piece of equipment, you put it into it. She was feeding documents into a paper shredder. VERB: V n prep 8. If someone feeds you false or secret information, they deliberately tell it to you. He was surrounded by people who fed him ghastly lies... At least one British officer was feeding him with classified information. VERB: V n n, V n with n, also V n to n 9. If you feed a plant, you add substances to it to make it grow well. Feed plants to encourage steady growth. VERB: V n 10. If one thing feeds on another, it becomes stronger as a result of the other thing's existence. The drinking and the guilt fed on each other. VERB: V on n 11. To feed information into a computer means to gradually put it into it. An automatic weather station feeds information on wind direction to the computer. VERB: V n into/to n 12. to bite the hand that feeds you: see bite mouths to feed: see mouth

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Give food to, furnish with provisions, supply with nourishment. 2. Supply, contribute to, provide for. 3. Nourish, cherish, sustain. 4. Supply with material. II. v. n. 1. Eat, take food, take nourishment. 2. Subsist, sustain life. III. n. 1. Food (for beasts), provender, fodder. 2. Allowance (of fodder). 3. Feeding mechanism, feeder.

Moby Thesaurus

abet, aid and abet, allay, appease, ask for, assuage, bank, banquet, barley, bed, bed down, bird seed, board, bran, bread, break, break bread, breed, bridle, brush, bunker, burn, care for, cat food, cater, cherish, chicken feed, chop, chow, coal, coddle, conflagrate, corn, cosset, count calories, countenance, cradle, cultivate, culture, curry, currycomb, deliver, depend on, detonate, devour, diet, dine, dish out, dispense, dog food, drench, dry-nurse, eat, eatage, eats, edibles, encourage, enkindle, ensilage, entertainment, explode, fall to, fan the flame, fare, farm, fatten, feast, feed the fire, fill up, find, fire, fodder, fondle, food, forage, foster, fuel, fuel up, fulminate, furnish, gas, gas up, gentle, give encouragement, grain, grass, gratify, graze, groom, grow, grub, hand, hand over, handle, harness, hatch, hay, hitch, hunger, ignite, inflame, invite, keep, keep in countenance, kindle, lavish care on, light, light up, litter, maintain, manage, mash, meal, meat, mess, milk, mother, nourish, nurse, nurture, oats, oil, pamper, partake, partake of, pasturage, pasture, pet food, pitch in, provender, provide, provide for, provision, provisions, purvey, quench, raise, ranch, rear, refection, refreshment, refuel, regale, regalement, rekindle, relight, relish, relume, repas, repast, rub down, run, saddle, sate, satiate, satisfy, savor, scratch, scratch feed, sell, set fire to, set on fire, silage, slake, slops, spoon-feed, spread, stir the fire, stoke, stoke the fire, straw, strike a light, suckle, supply, support, sustain, swill, table, take, tame, taste, tend, top off, torch, touch off, train, treat, viands, victual, victuals, water, wet-nurse, wheat, wine and dine, yoke