forage

[fawr-ij, for-]

noun

1. food for horses or cattle; fodder; provender.

2. the seeking or obtaining of such food.

3. the act of searching for provisions of any kind.

4. a raid.

verb (used without object)

foraged, foraging 

1. to wander or go in search of provisions.

2. to search about; seek; rummage; hunt.

   He went foraging in the attic for old mementos.

3. to make a raid.

verb (used with object)

foraged, foraging 

1. to collect forage from; strip of supplies; plunder.

   to forage the countryside.

2. to supply with forage.

3. to obtain by foraging.

forage

/ ˈfɒrɪdʒ /

noun

1. food for horses or cattle, esp hay or straw

2. the act of searching for food or provisions

3. military a raid or incursion

verb

1. to search (the countryside or a town) for food, provisions, etc

2. (intr) military to carry out a raid

3. (tr) to obtain by searching about

4. (tr) to give food or other provisions to

5. (tr) to feed (cattle or horses) with such food

Other Word Forms

• forager noun
• unforaged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of forage¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Old French fourrage, derivative of fuerre fodder (from Germanic )

Word History and Origins

Origin of forage¹

C14: from Old French fourrage , probably of Germanic origin; see _food , _fodder

Synonym Study

See feed.

Example Sentences

It was during her time in the rainforest reserve at Gombe, in Tanzania, when she stopped to spend time watching a male chimpanzee who was foraging.

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They mostly graze on grass around the ruined houses, and also forage for seaweed.

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“With all that noise and all those people down there, right on the lake, the eagles aren’t going to use that for foraging habitat,” she said.

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Locals know Phillips as a bushman with survival skills that would have set him up for building shelters and foraging for food in the wilderness.

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While on holiday she was fascinated by their foraging behaviour as they moved gracefully through the shallow, saline wetlands, filter-feeding for molluscs and crustaceans.

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Related Words

• comb 
• rummage 
• scour 
• scrounge