feed

[ feed ]

/ fid /

|||

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verb (used with object), fed, feed·ing.

to give food to; supply with nourishment: to feed a child.

to yield or serve as food for: This land has fed 10 generations.

to provide as food.

to furnish for consumption.

to satisfy; minister to; gratify: Poetry feeds the imagination.

to supply for maintenance or operation, as to a machine: to feed paper into a photocopier.

to provide with the necessary materials for development, maintenance, or operation: to feed a printing press with paper.

to use (land) as pasture.

Theater Informal.

to supply (an actor, especially a comedian) with lines or action, the responses to which are expected to elicit laughter.
to provide cues to (an actor).
Chiefly British. to prompt: Stand in the wings and feed them their lines.

Radio and Television. to distribute (a local broadcast) via satellite or network.

verb (used without object), fed, feed·ing.

(especially of animals) to take food; eat: cows feeding in a meadow; to feed well.

to be nourished or gratified; subsist: to feed on grass; to feed on thoughts of revenge.

noun

food, especially for farm animals, as cattle, horses or chickens.

an allowance, portion, or supply of such food.

Informal. a meal, especially a lavish one.

the act of feeding.

the act or process of feeding a furnace, machine, etc.

the material, or the amount of it, so fed or supplied.

a feeding mechanism.

Electricity. feeder(def 10).

Theater Informal.

a line spoken by one actor, the response to which by another actor is expected to cause laughter.
an actor, especially a straight man, who provides such lines.

a local television broadcast distributed by satellite or network to a much wider audience, especially nationwide or international.

Digital Technology.

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.
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.

Nearby words

Idioms

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.

off one's feed, Slang.

reluctant to eat; without appetite.
dejected; sad.
not well; ill.

Origin of feed

before 950; Middle English feden, Old English fēdan; cognate with Gothic fodjan, Old Saxon fōdian. See food

SYNONYMS FOR feed

1, 2. nourish, sustain. 5. nurture, support, encourage, bolster.

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ANTONYMS FOR feed

1, 2. starve.

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Related formsfeed·a·ble, adjectiveout·feed, verb (used with object), out·fed, out·feed·ing.re·feed, verb, re·fed, re·feed·ing.un·feed·a·ble, adjective

Synonym study

13. 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.

fee

[ fee ]

/ fi /

noun

a charge or payment for professional services: a doctor's fee.

a sum paid or charged for a privilege: an admission fee.

a charge allowed by law for the service of a public officer.

Law.

an estate of inheritance in land, either absolute and without limitation to any particular class of heirs(fee simple) or limited to a particular class of heirs (fee tail).
an inheritable estate in land held of a feudal lord on condition of the performing of certain services.
a territory held in fee.

a gratuity; tip.

verb (used with object), feed, fee·ing.

to give a fee to.

Chiefly Scot. to hire; employ.

Origin of fee

1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French; Old French fie, variant of fief fief. See feudal

SYNONYMS FOR fee

1. stipend, salary, emolument; honorarium.

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Related formsfee·less, adjectiveo·ver·fee, nounsu·per·fee, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for feed

The group puts out most of its statements—on its Twitter feed, or its numerous websites—in Arabic, as opposed to Baluchi or Farsi.
The Dangerous Drug-Funded Secret War Between Iran and Pakistan|Umar Farooq|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The city protests that a beach is not a suitable place to feed the hungry.
How Dickens and Scrooge Saved Christmas|Clive Irving|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And, according to an October post his feed, the school allegedly issued a second order of hospitalization for him.
Prof: MIT Hospitalized Me For Ferguson Tweets|Nina Strochlic|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But they are nonetheless connected and they feed into each other and are in the same world.
‘No Regrets’: Peter Jackson Says Goodbye to Middle-Earth|Alex Suskind|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST

“This is a way for some of us to feed our children,” Milland told The Daily Beast.
Amazon’s Turkers Kick Off the First Crowdsourced Labor Guild|Kevin Zawacki|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
What defect in the feed valve will cause the brake pipe pressure to equalize with that in the main reservoir?
The Traveling Engineers' Association|Anonymous
It'd take all he's worth to feed him through the winter, and he'd be no use to you at all.
The Hills of Desire|Richard Aumerle Maher
They will continue to feed until every vestige of the tubers is eaten, leaving the ground in a fine condition for replanting.
The Hawaiian Islands|The Department of Foreign Affairs
Feed upon Him; that is the essential central requirement for all Christian life, and what does feeding on Him mean?
Expositions of Holy Scripture: Romans Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)|Alexander Maclaren
The best fishing season is from April to October, when the fish come to this bank to feed.
Fishing Grounds of the Gulf of Maine|Walter H. Rich

British Dictionary definitions for feed

feed

/ (fiːd) /

verb feeds, feeding or fed (fɛd) (mainly tr)

to give food toto feed the cat

to give as foodto feed meat to the cat

(intr) to eat foodthe horses feed at noon

to provide food forthese supplies can feed 10 million people

to provide what is necessary for the existence or development ofto feed one's imagination

to gratify; satisfyto feed one's eyes on a beautiful sight

(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

to use (land) as grazing

theatre informal to cue (an actor, esp a comedian) with lines or actions

sport to pass a ball to (a team-mate)

electronics to introduce (electrical energy) into a circuit, esp by means of a feeder

(also intr; foll by on or upon) to eat or cause to eat

noun

the act or an instance of feeding

food, esp that of animals or babies

the process of supplying a machine or furnace with a material or fuel

the quantity of material or fuel so supplied

computing a facility allowing web users to receive news headlines and updates on their browser from a website as soon as they are published

the rate of advance of a cutting tool in a lathe, drill, etc

a mechanism that supplies material or fuel or controls the rate of advance of a cutting tool

theatre informal a performer, esp a straight man, who provides cues

informal a meal

Derived Formsfeedable, adjective

Word Origin for feed

Old English fēdan; related to Old Norse fœtha to feed, Old High German fuotan, Gothic fōthjan; see food, fodder

fee

/ (fiː) /

noun

a payment asked by professional people or public servants for their servicesa doctor's fee; school fees

a charge made for a privilegean entrance fee

property law

an interest in land capable of being inheritedSee fee simple, fee tail
the land held in fee

(in feudal Europe) the land granted by a lord to his vassal

an obsolete word for a gratuity

in fee

law (of land) in absolute ownership
archaic in complete subjection

verb fees, feeing or feed

rare to give a fee to

mainly Scot to hire for a fee

Derived Formsfeeless, adjective

Word Origin for fee

C14: from Old French fie, of Germanic origin; see fief

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for feed

feed

Old English fedan "nourish, feed, sustain, foster," from Proto-Germanic *fodjan (cf. Old Saxon fodjan, Old Frisian feda, Dutch voeden, Old High German fuotan, Old Norse foeða, Gothic fodjan "to feed"), from PIE *pa- "to protect, feed" (see food). Feeding frenzy is from 1989, metaphoric extension of a phrase that had been used of sharks since 1950s.

feed

"action of feeding," 1570s, from feed (v.). Meaning "food for animals" is first attested 1580s. Of machinery, from 1892.

fee

late 13c., from Old French fieu, fief "fief, possession, holding, domain; feudal duties, payment," from Medieval Latin feodum "land or other property whose use is granted in return for service," widely said to be from Frankish *fehu-od "payment-estate," or a similar Germanic compound, in which the first element is cognate with Old English feoh "money, movable property, cattle" (also German Vieh "cattle," Gothic faihu "money, fortune"), from PIE *peku- "cattle" (cf. Sanskrit pasu, Lithuanian pekus "cattle;" Latin pecu "cattle," pecunia "money, property"); second element similar to Old English ead "wealth."

OED rejects this, and suggests a simple adaptation of Germanic fehu, leaving the Medieval Latin -d- unexplained. Sense of "payment for services" first recorded late 14c. Fee-simple is "absolute ownership," as opposed to fee-tail "entailed ownership," inheritance limited to some particular class of heirs (second element from Old French taillir "to cut, to limit").

Idioms and Phrases with feed

feed

In addition to the idioms beginning with feed

feed one's face
feed someone a line
feed the kitty

also see:

bite the hand that feeds you
chicken feed
off one's feed
put on the feed bag

feed

verb (used with object), fed, feed·ing.

verb (used without object), fed, feed·ing.

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of feed

Synonym study

fee

noun

verb (used with object), feed, fee·ing.

Origin of fee

Examples from the Web for feed

feed

verb feeds, feeding or fed (fɛd) (mainly tr)

noun

Word Origin for feed

fee

noun

verb fees, feeing or feed

Word Origin for fee

feed

feed

fee

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