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underfeed

[uhn-der-feed for 1; uhn-der-feed for 2]
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verb (used with object), un·der·fed, un·der·feed·ing.
  1. to feed insufficiently.
  2. to feed with fuel from beneath.
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Origin of underfeed

First recorded in 1650–60; under- + feed
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

famishedhungryskinnythinmalnourished

Examples from the Web for underfed

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • He has been lonely and underfed, and at the first there was considerable pain.

    The Love Affairs of Pixie

    Mrs George de Horne Vaizey

  • I ain't sure of the word, but I believe that means thin-blooded or underfed.

    Rimrock Trail

    J. Allan Dunn

  • Poor, underfed and oversmart children; ready-witted and half-witted.

    Crimes of Charity

    Konrad Bercovici

  • Their cattle are not allowed to be overworked, or underfed, or abused in any way.

  • "I take it that you refer to the odor that comes from underfed bodies," I remarked.

    The Iron Ration

    George Abel Schreiner

British Dictionary definitions for underfed

underfeed

verb (ˌʌndəˈfiːd) -feeds, -feeding or -fed (tr)
  1. to give too little food to
  2. to supply (a furnace, engine, etc) with fuel from beneath
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noun (ˈʌndəˌfiːd)
  1. an apparatus by which fuel, etc, is supplied from below
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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