feed
Americanverb (used with object)
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to give food to; supply with nourishment.
to feed a child.
- Antonyms:
- starve
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to yield or serve as food for.
This land has fed 10 generations.
- Antonyms:
- starve
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to provide as food.
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to furnish for consumption.
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to satisfy; minister to; gratify.
Poetry feeds the imagination.
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to supply for maintenance or operation, as to a machine.
to feed paper into a photocopier.
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to provide with the necessary materials for development, maintenance, or operation.
to feed a printing press with paper.
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to use (land) as pasture.
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Theater Informal.
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to supply (an actor, especially a comedian) with lines or action, the responses to which are expected to elicit laughter.
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to provide cues to (an actor).
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Chiefly British. to prompt.
Stand in the wings and feed them their lines.
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Radio and Television. to distribute (a local broadcast) via satellite or network.
verb (used without object)
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(especially of animals) to take food; eat.
cows feeding in a meadow; to feed well.
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to be nourished or gratified; subsist.
to feed on grass; to feed on thoughts of revenge.
noun
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food, especially for farm animals, as cattle, horses or chickens.
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an allowance, portion, or supply of such food.
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Informal. a meal, especially a lavish one.
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the act of feeding.
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the act or process of feeding a furnace, machine, etc.
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the material, or the amount of it, so fed or supplied.
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a feeding mechanism.
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Electricity. feeder.
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Theater Informal.
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a line spoken by one actor, the response to which by another actor is expected to cause laughter.
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an actor, especially a straight man, who provides such lines.
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a local television broadcast distributed by satellite or network to a much wider audience, especially nationwide or international.
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Digital Technology.
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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.
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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.
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idioms
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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.
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off one's feed,
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reluctant to eat; without appetite.
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dejected; sad.
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not well; ill.
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verb
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to give food to
to feed the cat
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to give as food
to feed meat to the cat
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(intr) to eat food
the horses feed at noon
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to provide food for
these supplies can feed 10 million people
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to provide what is necessary for the existence or development of
to feed one's imagination
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to gratify; satisfy
to feed one's eyes on a beautiful sight
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(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
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to use (land) as grazing
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informal theatre to cue (an actor, esp a comedian) with lines or actions
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sport to pass a ball to (a team-mate)
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electronics to introduce (electrical energy) into a circuit, esp by means of a feeder
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(also intr; foll by on or upon) to eat or cause to eat
noun
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the act or an instance of feeding
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food, esp that of animals or babies
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the process of supplying a machine or furnace with a material or fuel
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the quantity of material or fuel so supplied
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computing a facility allowing web users to receive news headlines and updates on their browser from a website as soon as they are published
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the rate of advance of a cutting tool in a lathe, drill, etc
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a mechanism that supplies material or fuel or controls the rate of advance of a cutting tool
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informal theatre a performer, esp a straight man, who provides cues
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informal a meal
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has fedperfect 3rd person singular
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have fedperfect
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has been feedingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are feedingprogressive
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feedssingular 3rd person
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feedingparticiple
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have been feedingperfect progressive
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is feedingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am feedingprogressive 1st person singular
Past
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had fedperfect
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were feedingprogressive plural
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was feedingprogressive singular
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fedsimple
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had been feedingperfect progressive
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fedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of feed
First recorded before 950; Middle English feden, Old English fēdan; cognate with Gothic fōdjan, Old Saxon fōdian. See food
Explanation
To feed someone is to give them something to eat. Part of your daily morning routine might be remembering to feed your cat. When you feed a dog, you put food in his bowl, and when you feed your extended family, you might cook them a Thanksgiving feast. Animals are sometimes said "to feed," or to consume or eat, and you can also use the word to mean "food for an animal," or "to supply or promote." The Old English root is fedan, "nourish, sustain, or foster."
Vocabulary lists containing feed
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
According to a Times review of election night results data, The Times pulled data from the AP’s feed at approximately 8:35 p.m. that included 0 new votes for Pratt and eight other candidates.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026
He recently suited up to feed them sugar water and walked outside in his Birkenstocks, only to find them in an angry mood.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
Those byproducts would normally get sold at rock-bottom prices for animal feed, for instance, or possibly even discarded.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
With his wheat crop destroyed, Moussa has no other source of income to feed his family.
From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026
Our fields overflowing with vegetables that feed us through the year, the gentle clucking of the hens.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
