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underfeed

American  
[uhn-der-feed, uhn-der-feed] / ˌʌn dərˈfid, ˈʌn dɛrˌfid /

verb (used with object)

underfeeds, present (3rd person singular) underfed, past participle, past underfeeding present participle
  1. to feed insufficiently.

  2. to feed with fuel from beneath.


underfeed British  

verb

  1. to give too little food to

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

"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

noun

  1. 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

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of underfeed

First recorded in 1650–60; under- + feed

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

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