feeder

[ fee-der ]
See synonyms for feeder on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person or thing that supplies food or feeds something.

  2. 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.

  1. a person or thing that takes food or nourishment.

  2. a livestock animal that is fed an enriched diet to fatten it for market.: Compare stocker (def. 2).

  3. a person or device that feeds a machine, printing press, etc.

  4. a tributary stream.

  5. Also feed. Electricity. a conductor, or group of conductors, connecting primary equipment in an electric power system.

  6. British. a baby's bib.

  7. Theater Slang. straight man.

adjective
  1. being, functioning as, or serving as a feeder.

  2. pertaining to livestock to be fattened for market.

Origin of feeder

1
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at feed, -er1

Words Nearby feeder

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use feeder in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for feeder

feeder

/ (ˈfiːdə) /


noun
  1. a person or thing that feeds or is fed

  2. a child's feeding bottle or bib

  1. agriculture, mainly US and Canadian a head of livestock being fattened for slaughter

  2. a person or device that feeds the working material into a system or machine

  3. a tributary channel, esp one that supplies a reservoir or canal with water

    • a road, service, etc, that links secondary areas to the main traffic network

    • (as modifier): a feeder bus

    • a transmission line connecting an aerial to a transmitter or receiver

    • a power line for transmitting electrical power from a generating station to a distribution network

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