feeder

[fee-der]

noun

1. a person or thing that supplies food or feeds something.

2. a bin or boxlike device from which farm animals may eat, especially such a device designed to allow a number of chickens to feed simultaneously or to release a specific amount of feed at regular intervals.

3. a person or thing that takes food or nourishment.

4. a livestock animal that is fed an enriched diet to fatten it for market.

5. a person or device that feeds a machine, printing press, etc.

6. a tributary stream.

7. bird feeder.

8. feeder line.

9. feeder road.

10. Electricity.,  Also a conductor, or group of conductors, connecting primary equipment in an electric power system.

11. British.,  a baby's bib.

12. Theater Slang.,  straight man.

adjective

1. being, functioning as, or serving as a feeder.

2. pertaining to livestock to be fattened for market.

feeder

/ ˈfiːdə /

noun

1. a person or thing that feeds or is fed

2. a child's feeding bottle or bib

3. agriculture a head of livestock being fattened for slaughter

4. a person or device that feeds the working material into a system or machine

5. a tributary channel, esp one that supplies a reservoir or canal with water

6. 1. a road, service, etc, that links secondary areas to the main traffic network

   2. ( as modifier )

      a feeder bus

7. 1. a transmission line connecting an aerial to a transmitter or receiver

   2. a power line for transmitting electrical power from a generating station to a distribution network

Word History and Origins

Origin of feeder¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; feed, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Toni Williams, 52, who lives on the Banks Peninsula, said he has seen a three- or fourfold increase in the number of tui, a native bird, at a feeder near his house.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

As the grisly opening frame of the finale shows us, we’re just meat for bottom feeders.

Read more on Salon

That statement is in a week of economist transfers where the Treasury has become something of a feeder club to Number 10.

Read more on BBC

For feeders like Ms Malhotra, the debate is about more than just numbers.

Read more on BBC

He has been making frequent visits to Emerson Middle School, the feeder school for University, trying to convince students to come out for football.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• grower 
• laborer 
• peasant 
• producer 
• rancher