feed
Americanverb (used with object)
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feeds,
present (3rd person singular)
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fed,
past participle, past
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feeding
present participle
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to give food to; supply with nourishment.
to feed a child.
- Antonyms:
- starve
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to yield or serve as food for.
This land has fed 10 generations.
- Antonyms:
- starve
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to provide as food.
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to furnish for consumption.
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to satisfy; minister to; gratify.
Poetry feeds the imagination.
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to supply for maintenance or operation, as to a machine.
to feed paper into a photocopier.
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to provide with the necessary materials for development, maintenance, or operation.
to feed a printing press with paper.
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to use (land) as pasture.
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Theater Informal.
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to supply (an actor, especially a comedian) with lines or action, the responses to which are expected to elicit laughter.
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to provide cues to (an actor).
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Chiefly British. to prompt.
Stand in the wings and feed them their lines.
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Radio and Television. to distribute (a local broadcast) via satellite or network.
verb (used without object)
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feeds,
present (3rd person singular)
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fed,
past participle, past
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feeding
present participle
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(especially of animals) to take food; eat.
cows feeding in a meadow; to feed well.
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to be nourished or gratified; subsist.
to feed on grass; to feed on thoughts of revenge.
noun
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feeds
plural
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food, especially for farm animals, as cattle, horses or chickens.
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an allowance, portion, or supply of such food.
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Informal. a meal, especially a lavish one.
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the act of feeding.
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the act or process of feeding a furnace, machine, etc.
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the material, or the amount of it, so fed or supplied.
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a feeding mechanism.
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Electricity. feeder.
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Theater Informal.
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a line spoken by one actor, the response to which by another actor is expected to cause laughter.
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an actor, especially a straight man, who provides such lines.
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a local television broadcast distributed by satellite or network to a much wider audience, especially nationwide or international.
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Digital Technology.
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a website or application that publishes updates from social media or news-collection websites in reverse chronological order.
I follow all of the latest celebrity gossip in my Twitter feed.
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an XML-based web document that is updated automatically at predetermined intervals and includes descriptive titles or short descriptions and links to recent pages on a website.
Subscribe to news feeds to get the latest news from around the world.
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idioms
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chain feed, to pass (work) successively into a machine in such a manner that each new piece is held in place by or connected to the one before.
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off one's feed,
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reluctant to eat; without appetite.
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dejected; sad.
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not well; ill.
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verb
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to give food to
to feed the cat
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to give as food
to feed meat to the cat
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(intr) to eat food
the horses feed at noon
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to provide food for
these supplies can feed 10 million people
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to provide what is necessary for the existence or development of
to feed one's imagination
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to gratify; satisfy
to feed one's eyes on a beautiful sight
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(also intr) to supply (a machine, furnace, etc) with (the necessary materials or fuel) for its operation, or (of such materials) to flow or move forwards into a machine, etc
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to use (land) as grazing
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informal theatre to cue (an actor, esp a comedian) with lines or actions
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sport to pass a ball to (a team-mate)
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electronics to introduce (electrical energy) into a circuit, esp by means of a feeder
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(also intr; foll by on or upon) to eat or cause to eat
noun
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the act or an instance of feeding
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food, esp that of animals or babies
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the process of supplying a machine or furnace with a material or fuel
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the quantity of material or fuel so supplied
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computing a facility allowing web users to receive news headlines and updates on their browser from a website as soon as they are published
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the rate of advance of a cutting tool in a lathe, drill, etc
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a mechanism that supplies material or fuel or controls the rate of advance of a cutting tool
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informal theatre a performer, esp a straight man, who provides cues
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informal a meal
Synonym Usage
Feed, fodder, forage, provender mean food for animals. Feed is the general word: pig feed; chicken feed. Fodder is especially applied to dry or green feed, as opposed to pasturage, fed to horses, cattle, etc.: fodder for winter feeding; Cornstalks are good fodder. Forage is food that an animal obtains (usually grass, leaves, etc.) by searching about for it: Lost cattle can usually live on forage. Provender denotes dry feed, such as hay, oats, or corn: a supply of provender in the haymow and corn cribs.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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feedsimple
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feedssimple
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have fedperfect
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has fedperfect
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am feedingprogressive
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are feedingprogressive
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is feedingprogressive
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have been feedingperfect progressive
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has been feedingperfect progressive
Past
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fedsimple
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had fedperfect
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was feedingprogressive
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were feedingprogressive
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had been feedingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of feed
First recorded before 950; Middle English feden, Old English fēdan; cognate with Gothic fōdjan, Old Saxon fōdian. See food
Explanation
To feed someone is to give them something to eat. Part of your daily morning routine might be remembering to feed your cat. When you feed a dog, you put food in his bowl, and when you feed your extended family, you might cook them a Thanksgiving feast. Animals are sometimes said "to feed," or to consume or eat, and you can also use the word to mean "food for an animal," or "to supply or promote." The Old English root is fedan, "nourish, sustain, or foster."
Vocabulary lists containing feed
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Now he can only feed up to 15 goats, compared with as many as 40 previously.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
Minnesota’s private sector remains extraordinary: brilliant entrepreneurs, disciplined family businesses, innovative medical and technology companies, farmers who feed the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Anderson’s Billy steps out of the shadows with a full face of femme fatale makeup and a syrupy Dolly Parton drawl, promptly serving Kris enough fried chicken to feed a bobsled team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The results raise broader questions about how herbicides should be used in places where bees are likely to feed.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
They are intensely curious and study each thing I do as I feed and take care of the dogs.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
She also feeds him on a regular basis.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Although Perez’s livestream proceeded for around 15 minutes before it was shut down, screenshots and clips rocketed across the internet, invading countless social media feeds.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
And ever since F&M Bank Amphitheater opened earlier this summer, my social media feeds have been flooded with complaints about Long Beach’s new temporary waterfront venue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Candidatus Velamenicoccus archaeovorus feeds on microorganisms that convert limonene, the compound responsible for the scent of oranges, into methane and carbon dioxide.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
I’m looking up at him with this really fawning expression while he feeds the chickadee.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
So Palacios and Herfurth began paying out of pocket for bulk Costco runs that fed as many as 40 people per event.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
"We do call him Six-Dinners Sid because he gets fed in the record store, Beedlebop and The Box," Blossom said.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
It has tapped into the addictive qualities of social media, with opportunities fed to you in an algorithm-controlled scroll.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
The team also compared ants that had been fed with ants that had been deprived of food.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
They fed the dogs choice pieces of reindeer steak.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
Amazon said that by generating its own power, it would avoid passing the cost on to ordinary Americans, whose electricity bills have spiked as utilities charge consumers for the new infrastructure feeding the AI boom.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
AI is also feeding into inflation, cutting into consumers’ spending power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
It added it was aiming to to support families with feeding difficulties, premature births, delayed milk supply or other challenges, and would support up to 160 mothers.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Instead, it appears to have adapted ancient neural pathways that originally regulated hunger and feeding, giving them a new role in social care.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
Jack marveled for a brief moment at her feeding frenzy, then threw himself on the food with even more enthusiasm than the princess was showing.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
