— feedable , adj.
/feed/ , v. , fed, feeding , n.
v.t.
1. to give food to; supply with nourishment: to feed a child.
2. to yield or serve as food for: This land has fed 10 generations.
3. to provide as food.
4. to furnish for consumption.
5. to satisfy; minister to; gratify: Poetry feeds the imagination.
6. to supply for maintenance or operation, as to a machine: to feed paper into a photocopier.
7. to provide with the necessary materials for development, maintenance, or operation: to feed a printing press with paper.
8. to use (land) as pasture.
9. Theat. Informal.
a. to supply (an actor, esp. a comedian) with lines or action, the responses to which are expected to elicit laughter.
b. to provide cues to (an actor).
c. Chiefly Brit. to prompt: Stand in the wings and feed them their lines.
10. Radio and Television. to distribute (a local broadcast) via satellite or network.
v.i.
11. (esp. of animals) to take food; eat: cows feeding in a meadow; to feed well.
12. to be nourished or gratified; subsist: to feed on grass; to feed on thoughts of revenge.
13. chain feed , to pass (work) successively into a machine in such a manner that each new piece is held in place by or connected to the one before.
n.
14. food, esp. for farm animals, as cattle, horses or chickens.
15. an allowance, portion, or supply of such food.
16. Informal. a meal, esp. a lavish one.
17. the act of feeding.
18. the act or process of feeding a furnace, machine, etc.
19. the material, or the amount of it, so fed or supplied.
20. a feeding mechanism.
21. Elect. feeder (def. 10).
22. Theat. Informal.
a. a line spoken by one actor, the response to which by another actor is expected to cause laughter.
b. an actor, esp. a straight man, who provides such lines.
23. a local television broadcast distributed by satellite or network to a much wider audience, esp. nationwide or international.
24. off one's feed , Slang.
a. reluctant to eat; without appetite.
b. dejected; sad.
c. not well; ill.
[ bef. 950; ME feden, OE fedan; c. Goth fodjan, OS fodian. See FOOD ]
Syn. 1, 2. nourish, sustain. 5. nurture, support, encourage, bolster. 14. FEED, FODDER, FORAGE, PROVENDER mean food for animals. FEED is the general word: pig feed; chicken feed. FODDER is esp. applied to dry or green feed, as opposed to pasturage, fed to horses, cattle, etc.: fodder for winter feeding; Cornstalks are good fodder. FORAGE is food that an animal obtains (usually grass, leaves, etc.) by searching about for it: Lost cattle can usually live on forage. PROVENDER denotes dry feed, such as hay, oats, or corn: a supply of provender in the haymow and corn cribs.
Ant. 1, 2. starve.