feathering

American  

[feth-er-ing] / ˈfɛð ər ɪŋ /

noun

1. a covering of feathers; plumage.

2. the arrangement of feathers on an arrow.

3. Music. a very light and delicate use of the violin bow.

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feathering British  

/ ˈfɛðərɪŋ /

noun

1. the plumage of a bird; feathers

2. another word for feathers

3. printing

   1. an imperfection in print caused by the spreading of ink

   2. the use of additional space between lines in typesetting in order to fill the page

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Other Word Forms

• underfeathering
  noun

Etymology

Origin of feathering

First recorded in 1520–30; feather + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Traditionally, skiers negotiate the steepest terrain of a course by feathering their skis at a slight diagonal and elongating their stride to help them conserve energy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026

The Australian skipper removed him for a 13th time in Tests, more than any other bowler, with a furious Root berating himself after prodding at a full delivery and feathering to Carey.

From Barron's • Dec. 20, 2025

The pilots had likely put the condition levers, which control power, in the feathering position instead of selecting the flap lever, he explained.

From BBC • Dec. 28, 2023

Both would share my contempt for the greed of generals mostly interested in feathering their nests.

From Washington Post • Dec. 9, 2022

He didn’t have a lot of room to land and so he was feathering his engine to keep his speed down.

From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos