feed

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To give (someone or something) food to eat.

   • Feed the dog every evening.
   • If thine enemy hunger, feed him.
2. 2

   To eat (usually of animals).

   • Spiders feed on gnats and flies.
3. 3

   To give (someone or something) to (someone or something else) as food.

   • Don't feed him too much; he's still a baby.
   • Feed the fish to the dolphins.
   • DR SIMEON: I said I'd feed you. I didn't say who to.
4. ›+ 17 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To give to a machine to be processed.

      • Feed the paper gently into the document shredder.
   2. 5

      To supply (a machine) with something to be processed.

      • We got interesting results after feeding the computer with the new data.
   3. 6

      To satisfy, gratify, or minister to (a sense, taste, desire, etc.).

      • If I can catch him once upon the hip, / I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.
      • feeding him with the hope of liberty
   4. 7

      To supply with something.

      • Springs feed ponds with water.
      • The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed
   5. 8

      To graze

      To graze; to cause to be cropped by feeding, as herbage by cattle.

      • If grain is too forward in autumn, feed it with sheep.
      • Once in three years, or every other year, feed your mowing-lands.
   6. 9

      To pass to.

      • Morrison then played a pivotal role in West Brom's equaliser, powering through the middle and feeding Tchoyi, whose low, teasing right-wing cross was poked in by Thomas at the far post
   7. 10

      To create the environment where another phonological rule can apply

      To create the environment where another phonological rule can apply; to be applied before (another rule).

      • Nasalization feeds raising.
   8. 11

      To create the syntactic environment in which another syntactic rule is applied

      To create the syntactic environment in which another syntactic rule is applied; to be applied before (another syntactic rule).

      • This orthodox analysis […] leads to the conclusion that […] Subject–Auxiliary Inversion (SAI) is fed by the contraction operation.
   9. 12

      Food given to (especially herbivorous) non-human animals.

      • They sell feed, riding helmets, and everything else for horses.
   10. 13

       Something supplied continuously.

       • a satellite feed
   11. 14

       The part of a machine that supplies the material to be operated upon.

       • the paper feed of a printer
   12. 15

       The forward motion of the material fed into a machine.

   13. 16

       A meal.

       • "There won't be any more blessed concerts for a million years or so; there won't be any Royal Academy of Arts, and no nice little feeds at restaurants."
       • ‘Still hungry! Well, we’ll see if Larry can find you a feed of beef when the billy’s boiled.’
   14. 17

       A gathering to eat, especially in large quantities.

       • They held a crab feed on the beach.
   15. 18

       online content presented sequentially

       online content presented sequentially:

       • I've subscribed to the feeds of my favourite blogs, so I can find out when new posts are added without having to visit those sites.
   16. 19

       A straight man who delivers lines to the comedian during a performance.

       • Don Ward is often described as a former comic, having some experience in this area as a young man, acting as a feed for the comic actor David Lodge at Parkins Holiday Camp in Jersey […]
   17. 20

       simple past and past participle of fee

The neighborhood