/ fiːd; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb
( fed , fed / fed; NAmE /)
GIVE / EAT FOOD
1.
feed sb/sth (on) sth | feed sth to sb/sth to give food to a person or an animal :
[ vn ]
Have you fed the cat yet?
The baby can't feed itself yet (= can't put food into its own mouth) .
The cattle are fed on barley.
[ vnn , vn ]
The cattle are fed barley.
The barley is fed to the cattle.
2.
[ v ] ( of a baby or an animal ) to eat food :
Slugs and snails feed at night.
—see also feed on / off sth
3.
[ vn ] to provide food for a family or group of people :
They have a large family to feed.
There's enough here to feed an army.
PLANT
4.
[ vn ] to give a plant a special substance to make it grow :
Feed the plants once a week.
GIVE ADVICE / INFORMATION
5.
feed sb sth | feed sth to sb to give advice, information, etc. to sb/sth :
[ vnn , vn ]
We are constantly fed gossip and speculation by the media.
Gossip and speculation are constantly fed to us by the media.
SUPPLY
6.
[ vn ] feed A (with B) | feed B into A to supply sth to sb/sth :
The electricity line is fed with power through an underground cable.
Power is fed into the electricity line through an underground cable.
PUT INTO MACHINE
7.
[ vn ] feed A (with B) | feed B into A | feed sth (into / through sth) to put or push sth into or through a machine :
He fed coins into the meter.
He fed the meter with coins.
The fabric is fed through the machine.
SATISFY NEED
8.
[ vn ] to satisfy a need, desire, etc. and keep it strong :
For drug addicts, the need to feed the addiction takes priority over everything else.
•
IDIOMS
- feed your face
—more at bite verb
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- feed back (into / to sth)
- feed (sth) back (to sb)
- feed into sth
- feed on / off sth
- feed through (to sb/sth)
- feed sb up
■ noun
MEAL FOR BABY / ANIMAL
1.
[ C ] a meal of milk for a young baby; a meal for an animal :
her morning feed
FOR ANIMALS / PLANTS
2.
[ U , C ] food for animals or plants :
winter feed for the horses
FOR MACHINE
3.
[ U ] material supplied to a machine
4.
[ C ] a pipe, device, etc. which supplies a machine with sth :
the cold feed to the water cylinder
The printer has an automatic paper feed.
LARGE MEAL
5.
[ C ] ( informal ) a large meal :
They needed a bath and a good feed.
TELEVISION PROGRAMMES
6.
[ U ] ( NAmE ) television programmes that are sent from a central station to other stations in a network; the system of sending out these programmes :
network feed
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English fēdan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch voeden and food .