forage

American  

[fawr-ij, for-] / ˈfɔr ɪdʒ, ˈfɒr- /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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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

Related Words

See feed.

Other Word Forms

• forager
  noun
• unforaged
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of forage

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

Explanation

To forage is to wander around looking for food. When it’s cold and snowy outside, birds may forage for food in your backyard, digging around for whatever they can find. The verb forage often describes animals searching for food, but it can also be applied to people. In those circumstances it retains the slightly desperate sense of coming up with whatever is available. For example, if you want to cook dinner but have no time to go to the grocery store, you might forage your refrigerator and cabinets to find good substitutes for ingredients in your recipe.

Example Sentences

This year his lab spun out a company, Forage Evolution, which is working on tools to make it easier for researchers to engineer it in the lab.

From BBC • Sep. 25, 2025

The Farm Services Agency, for instance, uses the Drought Monitor’s weekly updates to dole out certain assistance programs such as emergency haying and the Livestock Forage Disaster Program.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2024

“One Third for the Birds” was originally the subtitle of a 2011 paper in Science, co-authored by Cury, called “Global Seabird Response to Forage Fish Depletion.”

From Slate • Feb. 4, 2024

Forage crops, on which cattle and other livestock rely, will also decline.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 21, 2023

Forage samples from fields where the cows had grazed were of course contaminated also.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Related Words

• comb
• rummage
• scour
• scrounge