hand-feed
Americanverb (used with object)
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Agriculture. to feed (animals) with apportioned amounts at regular intervals.
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to feed (an animal or person) by hand.
The students hand-fed the baby monkeys with an eyedropper.
Etymology
Origin of hand-feed
First recorded in 1795–1805
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:
"She was very thin and we had to hand-feed her at first - she has a real appetite but we have to feed her up slowly," Charlotte said.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
Two middle-aged men — a stablehand and a horse trainer who had reportedly tried to hand-feed the dying mare — developed flulike symptoms, too.
From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2022
They’ll also provide healthy treats to hand-feed the four-legged hikers who will be available for petting and unlimited photo opportunities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2022
But never hand-feed an animal; you don’t want to get bitten or scratched.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 6, 2022
But when Beatrice refused to eat, I had to hand-feed her a few lumps of liver-flavored kibble.
From "Ungifted" by Gordon Korman
He and his wife hand-fed the animal until it was able to eat on its own.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 18, 2023
She injected fluids beneath the bats’ skin with a needle and syringe and hand-fed them a gruel made of mealworms, she said.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 30, 2022
Each chick is weighed every morning and hand-fed three times a day with a "penguin milkshake" - blended fish, vitamins and minerals.
From BBC ● May 18, 2022
Also, a zookeeper forms a bond with a Magellanic penguin chick that is reluctant to be hand-fed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2021
Ruva had just graduated from being hand-fed herself.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
While humans are unlikely to contract H5N1, close physical contact with birds through hand-feeding is simply not worth the risk.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
Also at the rally was special education assistant Amy Rendon, a 32-year-old parent of a toddler who works with children at Evergreen Elementary in Boyle Heights, changing diapers, hand-feeding them, whatever is needed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2023
But if they bless you with something egregious, go for it: “I find it challenging when you’re in her lap and hand-feeding her like she’s an orphaned bird.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 6, 2023
On November 3, Mr Gökçe had uploaded a Tiktok video of himself personally preparing steak dishes in front of the Vietnamese delegation and hand-feeding a piece of a Golden Tomahawk steak to Mr To.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2021
With careful hand-feeding that in the beginning went around the clock, I was able to parrot-parent.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
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.
