feeder
Americannoun
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a person or thing that supplies food or feeds something.
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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.
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a person or thing that takes food or nourishment.
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a livestock animal that is fed an enriched diet to fatten it for market.
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a person or device that feeds a machine, printing press, etc.
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a tributary stream.
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Electricity. Also a conductor, or group of conductors, connecting primary equipment in an electric power system.
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British. a baby's bib.
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Theater Slang. straight man.
adjective
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being, functioning as, or serving as a feeder.
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pertaining to livestock to be fattened for market.
noun
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a person or thing that feeds or is fed
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a child's feeding bottle or bib
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agriculture a head of livestock being fattened for slaughter
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a person or device that feeds the working material into a system or machine
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a tributary channel, esp one that supplies a reservoir or canal with water
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a road, service, etc, that links secondary areas to the main traffic network
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( as modifier )
a feeder bus
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a transmission line connecting an aerial to a transmitter or receiver
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a power line for transmitting electrical power from a generating station to a distribution network
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of feeder
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at feed, -er 1
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.
See Examples For:
On Monday, the September contract for feeder cattle FCU26 — those that are fattened up for slaughter — fell 2.8% to end at $3.32 per pound in Chicago.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
“I was on a tube feeder then a puréed diet for a couple months. Then speech and swallow therapy. Then a vocal coach.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
"These small facilities are feeder pools to go into the bigger facilities like the pools in Edinburgh and Aberdeen," he said.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026
PPB, based in Conshohocken, Pa., operates a platform that includes feeder funds to facilitate investments in nonpublic asset classes such as private equity and real estate.
From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026
He dreamed the ants crawling all over his hummingbird feeder and clogging it with their bodies were a special kind of Milagro piranha ant.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Consider using small-holed haynets or slow feeders to reduce waste and help forage last longer.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
They’d descend on his garden, where he’d set up feeders full of “nectar”—filtered water mixed with cane sugar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
“International sales complement the domestic market, maximizing the value of every animal and providing incentive for ranchers and cattle feeders to expand their operations,” the U.S.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
Today, demosponges appear in many shapes, sizes, and colors and live throughout the world's oceans as soft filter feeders.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 27, 2026
We pass lawns and porch furniture, bird feeders and birdbaths.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
