verb
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to give too little food to
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to supply (a furnace, engine, etc) with fuel from beneath
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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underfeedsimple
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underfeedssimple
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have underfedperfect
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has underfedperfect
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am underfeedingprogressive
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are underfeedingprogressive
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is underfeedingprogressive
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have been underfeedingperfect progressive
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has been underfeedingperfect progressive
Past
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underfedsimple
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had underfedperfect
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was underfeedingprogressive
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were underfeedingprogressive
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had been underfeedingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of underfeed
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:
One of these boilers is equipped with a Jones underfeed stoker, and is baffled in the regular way.
From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXX, Dec. 1910 Federal Investigations of Mine Accidents, Structural Materials and Fuels. Paper No. 1171 by Wilson, Herbert M.
She will overwork you, I'm afraid: I only hope she won't underfeed you.
From Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 22, November, 1878 of Popular Literature and Science by Various
"You shouldn't underfeed the poor kid," said Wally.
From Captain Jim by Bruce, Mary Grant
But many farmers about here will overwork and underfeed all the week, and on Sunday talk about being 'merciful to their beasts.'
From Opening a Chestnut Burr by Roe, Edward Payson
Under an unwise or indolent herder the sheep going on an unaccustomed trail will overtravel and underfeed, until in the midst of good pasture they starve upon their feet.
From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Park, Robert Ezra
"Oh, pretty good," said the little woman, shrugging her shoulders, "though they do say she overcharges and underfeeds her lodgers."
From The Silent House by Hume, Fergus
He and others say the bigger problem is illegal breeding, leading to underfed and neglected animals that end up in shelters or dead on the streets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
She and other relatives say the men weren’t plotting a coup but raising concerns about issues such as underfed soldiers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
But even though the Storm Corps' training is more advanced than that of regular North Korean units, the soldiers are still underfed and even malnourished.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2024
Enlisted members of the Nationalist army were often underfed and scorned by their officers, and many ran away or defected to the CCP.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
It isn't just that we've been underfed and lack training.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Many were Wurtembergers, and these for the most part appeared to be quite fit and sturdy, but if you looked at them closely you could see the effects of long, systematic underfeeding.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 24, 2018
The counterintuitive observation that underfeeding animals can lengthen their lives is an old one.
From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2018
That court order stems from a legal action that the Southern Center brought against Sheriff Franklin’s predecessor, Greg Bartlett, who had been underfeeding inmates while taking $212,000 in food money for his personal use.
From New York Times ● Dec. 14, 2017
In a separate project, Dewhurst is analysing levels of exhaled ketones and sulfides in cow breath to reveal underfeeding and tissue breakdown or excess protein in their diet.
From Nature ● Apr. 25, 2017
Further, there is the difficulty of discriminating between underfeeding due to wilful and culpable neglect and underfeeding due to the actual chronic poverty of the parent.
From The Children: Some Educational Problems by Darroch, Alexander
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.
