underfeed

[uhn-der-feed for 1; uhn-der-feed for 2]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR underfeed ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), un·der·fed, un·der·feed·ing.

to feed insufficiently.

to feed with fuel from beneath.

Origin of underfeed

First recorded in 1650–60; under- + feed

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for underfed

famished, hungry, skinny, thin, malnourished

Examples from the Web for underfed

Contemporary Examples of underfed

The animal was so underfed that his ribs were showing under his lusterless chestnut coat.
Central Park’s Carriages Saved This Horse
Michael Daly
April 24, 2014

Historical Examples of underfed

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.
Folly as It Flies
Fanny Fern
"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)

to give too little food to

to supply (a furnace, engine, etc) with fuel from beneath

noun (ˈʌndəˌfiːd)

an apparatus by which fuel, etc, is supplied from below

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