Adjacent Words

Forage definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FOR'AGE, n. [L. voro.]
1. Food of any kind for horses and cattle, as grass; pasture, hay, corn and oats.
2. The act of providing forage.
Col. Mawhood completed his forage unmolested.
If the forage is to be made at a distance from the camp -
3. Search for provisions; the act of feeding abroad.
FOR'AGE, v.i.
1. To collect food for horses and cattle, by wandering about and feeding or stripping the country.
2. To wander far; to rove. Obs.
3. To ravage; to feed on spoil.
FOR'AGE, v.t. To strip of provisions for horses, etc.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: bulky food like grass or hay for browsing or grazing horses or cattle [syn: eatage, forage, pasture, pasturage, grass]
2: the act of searching for food and provisions [syn: foraging, forage] v
1: collect or look around for (food) [syn: scrounge, forage]
2: wander and feed; "The animals forage in the woods"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from fuerre, foer fodder, straw, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German fuotar food, fodder — more at food Date: 14th century 1. food for animals especially when taken by browsing or grazing 2. [forage (II)] the act of foraging ; search for provisions II. verb (foraged; foraging) Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to strip of provisions ; collect forage from 2. to secure by foraging <foraged a chicken for the feast> intransitive verb 1. to wander in search of forage or food 2. to secure forage (as for horses) by stripping the country 3. ravage, raid 4. to make a search ; rummage • forager noun

Britannica Concise

Vegetable food of wild or domestic animals, incl. corn and hay. Harvested, processed, and stored forage is called silage. Forage should be harvested in early maturity to avoid a decrease in protein and fiber content as crops mature.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 food for horses and cattle. 2 the act or an instance of searching for food. --v. 1 intr. go searching; rummage (esp. for food). 2 tr. collect food from; ravage. 3 tr. a get by foraging. b supply with food. Phrases and idioms: forage cap an infantry undress cap. Derivatives: forager n. Etymology: ME f. OF fourrage, fourrager, rel. to FODDER

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Forage For"age (?; 48), n. [OF. fourage, F. fourrage, fr. forre, fuerre, fodder, straw, F. feurre, fr. LL. foderum, fodrum, of German or Scand, origin; cf. OHG. fuotar, G. futter. See Fodder food, and cf. Foray.] 1. The act of foraging; search for provisions, etc. He [the lion] from forage will incline to play. --Shak. One way a band select from forage drives A herd of beeves, fair oxen and fair kine. --Milton. Mawhood completed his forage unmolested. --Marshall. 2. Food of any kind for animals, especially for horses and cattle, as grass, pasture, hay, corn, oats. --Dryden. Forage cap. See under Cap. Forage master (Mil.), a person charged with providing forage and the means of transporting it. --Farrow.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Forage For"age, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Foraged; p. pr. & vb. n. Foraging.] To wander or rove in search of food; to collect food, esp. forage, for horses and cattle by feeding on or stripping the country; to ravage; to feed on spoil. His most mighty father on a hill Stood smiling to behold his lion's whelp Forage in blood of French nobility. --Shak. Foraging ant (Zo["o]l.), one of several species of ants of the genus Eciton, very abundant in tropical America, remarkable for marching in vast armies in search of food. Foraging cap, a forage cap. Foraging party, a party sent out after forage.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Forage For"age, v. t. To strip of provisions; to supply with forage; as, to forage steeds. --Pope.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(forages, foraging, foraged) 1. If someone forages for something, they search for it in a busy way. They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel. VERB: V for n 2. When animals forage, they search for food. We disturbed a wild boar that had been foraging by the roadside... The cat forages for food. VERB: V, V for n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Food (for horses and cattle), fodder, provender. 2. Foraging, foraging expedition. II. v. n. 1. Wander in search of forage, take forage. 2. Ravage, feed on forage, subsist by foraging. III. v. a. 1. Strip of forage, ravage, waste, plunder. 2. Supply with forage.

Moby Thesaurus

barley, beat, beat the bushes, bird seed, board, bran, bread, bunker, burrow, cat food, cater, chicken feed, chop, coal, comb, corn, delve, depredate, despoil, dig, dine, dog food, domiciliary visit, dragnet, eatage, ensilage, exploration, explore, feed, fill up, fleece, fodder, foray, freeboot, frisk, fuel, gas, gas up, go through, grain, grass, gratify, graze, gut, hay, house-search, hunt, hunting, look around, look round, look through, loot, maraud, mash, meal, meat, mess, nose around, oats, oil, pasturage, pasture, perquisition, pet food, pillage, plunder, poke, poke around, posse, prey on, probe, provender, provision, pry, purvey, quest, raid, ransack, ransacking, ravage, raven, ravish, regale, reive, research, rifle, root, rummage, sack, satisfy, scratch, scratch feed, search, search party, search through, search warrant, search-and-destroy operation, searching, sell, silage, slops, smell around, spoil, spoliate, stalk, stalking, still hunt, straw, sustain, sweep, swill, top off, turning over, victual, wheat, wine and dine