Dictionary.com

hand-feed

[ hand-feed ]
/ ˈhændˈfid /

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

Agriculture. to feed (animals) with apportioned amounts at regular intervals.Compare self-feed.
to feed (an animal or person) by hand: The students hand-fed the baby monkeys with an eyedropper.

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Origin of hand-feed

First recorded in 1795–1805

Words nearby hand-feed

handedness, Handel, Handel, George Frederick, handfast, handfasting, hand-feed, hand, foot, and mouth disease, handful, hand glass, hand grenade, handgrip
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for hand-feed

  • If the young are very feeble, it may become necessary to hand-feed them.

    The Stock-Feeder's Manual|Charles Alexander Cameron

  • Try and grow a bit of hand-feed for your cows as a stand-by, no matter how good a dairying district you're in.

    From Chart House to Bush Hut|Charles W. L. Bryde

British Dictionary definitions for hand-feed

handfeed
/ (ˈhændˌfiːd) /

verb -feeds, -feeding or -fed (-ˌfɛd) (tr)

to feed (a person or an animal) by hand
agriculture to give food to (poultry or livestock) in fixed amounts and at fixed times, rather than use a self-feeding system
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