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Feeling definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FEE'LING, ppr.
1. Perceiving by the touch; having perception.
2. a. Expressive of great sensibility; affecting; tending to excite the passions. He made a feeling representation of his wrongs. He spoke with feeling eloquence.
3. Possessing great sensibility; easily affected or moved; as a feeling man; a feeling heart.
4. Sensibly or deeply affected; as, I had a feeling sense of his favors. [This use is not analogical, but common.]
FEE'LING, n.
1. The sense of touch; the sense by which we perceive external objects which come in contact with the body, and obtain ideas of their tangible qualities; one of the five senses. It is by feeling we know that a body is hard or soft, hot or cold, wet or dry, rough or smooth.
2. Sensation; the effect of perception.
The apprehension of the good gives but the greater feeling to the worse.
3. Faculty or power of perception; sensibility.
Their king, out of a princely feeling, was sparing and compassionate towards his subjects.
4. Nice sensibility; as a man of feeling.
5. Excitement; emotion.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the experiencing of affective and emotional states; "she had a feeling of euphoria"; "he had terrible feelings of guilt"; "I disliked him and the feeling was mutual"
2: a vague idea in which some confidence is placed; "his impression of her was favorable"; "what are your feelings about the crisis?"; "it strengthened my belief in his sincerity"; "I had a feeling that she was lying" [syn: impression, feeling, belief, notion, opinion]
3: the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people; "the feel of the city excited him"; "a clergyman improved the tone of the meeting"; "it had the smell of treason" [syn: spirit, tone, feel, feeling, flavor, flavour, look, smell]
4: a physical sensation that you experience; "he had a queasy feeling"; "I had a strange feeling in my leg"; "he lost all feeling in his arm"
5: the sensation produced by pressure receptors in the skin; "she likes the touch of silk on her skin"; "the surface had a greasy feeling" [syn: touch, touch sensation, tactual sensation, tactile sensation, feeling]
6: an intuitive understanding of something; "he had a great feeling for music" [syn: feeling, intuitive feeling]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Date: 12th century 1. a. (1) the one of the basic physical senses of which the skin contains the chief end organs and of which the sensations of touch and temperature are characteristic ; touch (2) a sensation experienced through this sense b. generalized bodily consciousness or sensation c. appreciative or responsive awareness or recognition 2. a. an emotional state or reaction <a kindly feeling toward the boy> b. plural susceptibility to impression ; sensitivity <the remark hurt her feelings> 3. a. the undifferentiated background of one's awareness considered apart from any identifiable sensation, perception, or thought b. the overall quality of one's awareness c. conscious recognition ; sense 4. a. often unreasoned opinion or belief ; sentiment b. presentiment 5. capacity to respond emotionally especially with the higher emotions 6. the character ascribed to something ; atmosphere 7. a. the quality of a work of art that conveys the emotion of the artist b. sympathetic aesthetic response 8. feel 4 Synonyms: feeling, emotion, affection, sentiment, passion mean a subjective response to a person, thing, or situation. feeling denotes any partly mental, partly physical response marked by pleasure, pain, attraction, or repulsion; it may suggest the mere existence of a response but imply nothing about the nature or intensity of it <the feelings that once moved me are gone>. emotion carries a strong implication of excitement or agitation but, like feeling encompasses both positive and negative responses <the drama portrays the emotions of adolescence>. affection applies to feelings that are also inclinations or likings <a memoir of childhood filled with affection for her family>. sentiment often implies an emotion inspired by an idea <her feminist sentiments are well known>. passion suggests a very powerful or controlling emotion <revenge became his ruling passion>. II. adjective Date: 14th century 1. a. sentient, sensitive b. easily moved emotionally 2. obsolete deeply felt 3. expressing emotion or sensitivity • feelingly adverb • feelingness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. 1 a the capacity to feel; a sense of touch (lost all feeling in his arm). b a physical sensation. 2 a (often foll. by of) a particular emotional reaction (a feeling of despair). b (in pl.) emotional susceptibilities or sympathies (hurt my feelings; had strong feelings about it). 3 a particular sensitivity (had a feeling for literature). 4 a an opinion or notion, esp. a vague or irrational one (my feelings on the subject; had a feeling she would be there). b vague awareness (had a feeling of safety). c sentiment (the general feeling was against it). 5 readiness to feel sympathy or compassion. 6 a the general emotional response produced by a work of art, piece of music, etc. b emotional commitment or sensibility in artistic execution (played with feeling). --adj. 1 sensitive, sympathetic. 2 showing emotion or sensitivity. Derivatives: feelingless adj. feelingly adv.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Feel Feel, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Felt; p. pr. & vb. n. Feeling.] [AS. f?lan; akin to OS. gif?lian to perceive, D. voelen to feel, OHG. fuolen, G. f["u]hlen, Icel. f[=a]lma to grope, and prob. to AS. folm paim of the hand, L. palma. Cf. Fumble, Palm.] 1. To perceive by the touch; to take cognizance of by means of the nerves of sensation distributed all over the body, especially by those of the skin; to have sensation excited by contact of (a thing) with the body or limbs. Who feel Those rods of scorpions and those whips of steel. --Creecn. 2. To touch; to handle; to examine by touching; as, feel this piece of silk; hence, to make trial of; to test; often with out. Come near, . . . that I may feel thee, my son. --Gen. xxvii. 21. He hath this to feel my affection to your honor. --Shak. 3. To perceive by the mind; to have a sense of; to experience; to be affected by; to be sensible of, or sensetive to; as, to feel pleasure; to feel pain. Teach me to feel another's woe. --Pope. Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing. --Eccl. viii. 5. He best can paint them who shall feel them most. --Pope. Mankind have felt their strength and made it felt. --Byron. 4. To take internal cognizance of; to be conscious of; to have an inward persuasion of. For then, and not till then, he felt himself. --Shak. 5. To perceive; to observe. [Obs.] --Chaucer. To feel the helm (Naut.), to obey it.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Feeling Feel"ing, a. 1. Possessing great sensibility; easily affected or moved; as, a feeling heart. 2. Expressive of great sensibility; attended by, or evincing, sensibility; as, he made a feeling representation of his wrongs.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Feeling Feel"ing, n. 1. The sense by which the mind, through certain nerves of the body, perceives external objects, or certain states of the body itself; that one of the five senses which resides in the general nerves of sensation distributed over the body, especially in its surface; the sense of touch; nervous sensibility to external objects. Why was the sight To such a tender ball as the eye confined, . . . And not, as feeling, through all parts diffused? --Milton. 2. An act or state of perception by the sense above described; an act of apprehending any object whatever; an act or state of apprehending the state of the soul itself; consciousness. The apprehension of the good Gives but the greater feeling to the worse. --Shak. 3. The capacity of the soul for emotional states; a high degree of susceptibility to emotions or states of the sensibility not dependent on the body; as, a man of feeling; a man destitute of feeling. 4. Any state or condition of emotion; the exercise of the capacity for emotion; any mental state whatever; as, a right or a wrong feeling in the heart; our angry or kindly feelings; a feeling of pride or of humility. A fellow feeling makes one wondrous kind. --Garrick. Tenderness for the feelings of others. --Macaulay. 5. That quality of a work of art which embodies the mental emotion of the artist, and is calculated to affect similarly the spectator. --Fairholt. Syn: Sensation; emotion; passion; sentiment; agitation; opinion. See Emotion, Passion, Sentiment.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(feelings) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A feeling is an emotion, such as anger or happiness. It gave me a feeling of satisfaction... I think our main feeling would be of an immense gratitude... He was unable to contain his own destructive feelings. N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n 2. Your feelings about something are the things that you think and feel about it, or your attitude towards it. She has strong feelings about the alleged growth in violence against female officers... I think that sums up the feelings of most discerning and intelligent Indians... He made no real secret of his feelings to his friends. N-PLURAL: with supp, oft with poss, oft N about n/-ing 3. When you refer to someone's feelings, you are talking about the things that might embarrass, offend, or upset them. For example, if you hurt someone's feelings, you upset them by something that you say or do. He was afraid of hurting my feelings... He has no respect, no regard for anyone's feelings... N-PLURAL: usu poss N 4. Feeling is a way of thinking and reacting to things which is emotional and not planned rather than logical and practical. He was prompted to a rare outburst of feeling. ...a voice that trembles with feeling. = emotion 5. Feeling for someone is love, affection, sympathy, or concern for them. Thomas never lost his feeling for Harriet... It's incredible that Peter can behave with such stupid lack of feeling. N-UNCOUNT: oft N for n 6. If you have a feeling of hunger, tiredness, or other physical sensation, you experience it. I also had a strange feeling in my neck... He experienced feelings of claustrophobia from being in a small place. N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n 7. Feeling in part of your body is the ability to experience the sense of touch in this part of the body. After the accident he had no feeling in his legs. 8. If you have a feeling that something is the case or that something is going to happen, you think that is probably the case or that it is probably going to happen. I have a feeling that everything will come right for us one day... You have a feeling about people, and I just felt she was going to be good. N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N about n, N that 9. Feeling is used to refer to a general opinion that a group of people has about something. There is still some feeling in the art world that the market for such works may be declining... It seemed that anti-Fascist feeling was not being encouraged. N-UNCOUNT: with supp, oft N that 10. If you have a feeling of being in a particular situation, you feel that you are in that situation. I had the terrible feeling of being left behind to bring up the baby while he had fun. N-SING: N of -ing 11. If you have a feeling for something, you have an understanding of it or a natural ability to do it. Try to get a feeling for the people who live here... You seem to have a feeling for drawing. N-SING: a N for n 12. If something such as a place or book creates a particular kind of feeling, it creates a particular kind of atmosphere. That's what we tried to portray in the book, this feeling of opulence and grandeur. N-SING: with supp 13. see also feel 14. Bad feeling or ill feeling is bitterness or anger which exists between people, for example after they have had an argument. There's been some bad feeling between the two families. PHRASE: oft PHR between n 15. Hard feelings are feelings of anger or bitterness towards someone who you have had an argument with or who has upset you. If you say 'no hard feelings', you are making an agreement with someone not to be angry or bitter about something. I don't want any hard feelings between our companies... He held out his large hand. 'No hard feelings, right?' PHRASE 16. You say 'I know the feeling' to show that you understand or feel sorry about a problem or difficult experience that someone is telling you about. (SPOKEN) CONVENTION [feelings] 17. If you have mixed feelings about something or someone, you feel uncertain about them because you can see both good and bad points about them. PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR about n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fel'-ing: The following varieties of meaning are to be noted:

(1) "To touch," "handle," "grope after" (mashash (Ge 27:12,22; Ex 10:21; mush, Ge 27:21; Jud 16:26; pselaphao, Ac 17:27).

(2) "To know," "understand," "experience" (bin, Ps 58:9; yadha`, Pr 23:35; ginosko, Mr 5:29).

(3) "To have a fellow feeling," "to place one's self into the position of another," especially while suffering, "to have compassion" (sumpathein, Heb 4:15; compare 10:34; which is to be carefully distinguished from the similar verb sumpaschein, which means "to share in the same suffering with another," Ro 8:17; 1Co 12:26). See Delitzsch, Commentary on Heb 4:15.

(4) "To feel harm," "pain," "grief," "to be sensitive" (paschein, with the roots path- and penth-, Ac 28:5); or with the negation: "to have ceased to feel," "to be apathetic," "past feeling," "callous," apelgekos, perfect participle of apalgeo (Eph 4:19) which describes the condition of the sinner, who by hardening his heart against moral influences is left without a sense of his high vocation, without an idea of the awfulness of sin, without reverence to God, without an appreciation of the salvation offered by Him, and without fear of His judgment.

H. L. E. Luering

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Affecting, moving, touching, melting, pathetic. 2. Sensitive, tender, sympathetic. II. n. 1. Sense of touch. 2. Sensation, perception by touch. 3. Sensibility, emotion, sentiment, passion, affection, impression. 4. Tenderness, susceptibility, sensibility, sentiment, fine feeling, delicate sentiment.

Moby Thesaurus

action, affect, affection, affectional, affective, affectivity, air, ambiance, ambience, analog process, analytic, appreciation, appreciation of differences, appreciativeness, ardency, ardor, artistic judgment, assumption, atmosphere, attitude, aura, awareness, behavior, behavior pattern, belief, benevolence, breath, brush, caress, caressing, clairvoyant, clemency, climate, climate of opinion, commiseration, common belief, community sentiment, compassion, compassionate, conceit, concept, conception, concern, conclusion, condolence, connoisseurship, consciousness, consensus gentium, consideration, contact, conviction, critical niceness, criticalness, cutaneous sense, delicacy, demonstrative, digital process, discriminating taste, discriminatingness, discrimination, discriminativeness, emotiometabolic, emotiomotor, emotion, emotional, emotional charge, emotional shade, emotions, emotiovascular, emotive, emotivity, empathy, estimate, estimation, ethos, examinational, examinatorial, examining, experience, explorational, explorative, exploratory, eye, fact-finding, fastidiousness, favor, feel, feeling tone, feelings, fervency, fervor, fine palate, finesse, fingering, fingertip caress, flick, forbearance, foreboding, forefeeling, forgiveness, friction, frottage, funny feeling, general belief, glance, glandular, grace, graze, groping, gut, gut reaction, hand-mindedness, handling, heartthrob, heat, heuristic, hint, humanity, humor, hunch, hunting, idea, identification, impression, imprint, indagative, inkling, input oscillation, inspectional, inspectorial, instinct, intensity, intimation, intuition, intuitional, intuitive, intuitive impression, investigational, investigative, investigatory, judgment, judiciousness, kindness, kiss, lambency, lap, leniency, lick, light touch, lights, making distinctions, manipulation, mental attitude, mercy, milieu, mind, mitigation, mood, mystique, niceness of distinction, nicety, note, notion, observation, of soul, offset, opinion, oscillatory behavior, outlook, overcorrection of error, overdemonstrative, overshoot, overtone, palate, palpability, palpation, pardon, passion, pathos, percept, perceptibility, perception, personal judgment, persuasion, petting, pity, point of view, popular belief, position, posture, preapprehension, precognitive, premonition, presentiment, pressure, presumption, prevailing belief, process, profound sense, psychology, public belief, public opinion, quality, quarter, reaction, refined discrimination, refined palate, refinement, regard, relief, reprieve, response, response to stimuli, responsiveness, rub, rubbing, ruth, second-sighted, selectiveness, self-excitation, self-pity, sensation, sense, sense impression, sense of touch, sense perception, sensibilities, sensibility, sensing, sensitive, sensitivity, sensory experience, sentient, sentiment, sight, soulful, spirit, stance, stroke, stroking, subtlety, susceptibilities, suspicion, sympathetic, sympathies, sympathy, tact, tactfulness, tactile sense, taction, tangibility, tap, taste, temper, tender, tenderness, tentative, tentative poke, testing, theory, thinking, thought, tone, touch, touching, trying, undercurrent, understanding, undertone, vague feeling, vague idea, vehemence, vein, view, visceral, warmth, way of thinking, whisper, zetetic