Meaning

A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display..

Definitions by Sense

1. A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.
2. Long hair on the lower legs of a dog or horse, especially a draft horse, notably the Clydesdale breed. Narrowly only the rear hair.
3. One of the fins or wings on the shaft of an arrow.
4. A longitudinal strip projecting from an object to strengthen it, or to enter a channel in another object and thereby prevent displacement sideways or rotationally but permit motion lengthwise.
5. Kind; nature; species (from the proverbial phrase "birds of a feather").
6. One of the two shims of the three-piece stone-splitting tool known as plug and feather or plug and feathers; the feathers are placed in a borehole and then a wedge is driven between them, causing the stone to split.
7. The angular adjustment of an oar or paddle-wheel float, with reference to a horizontal axis, as it leaves or enters the water.
8. Anything petty or trifling; a whit or jot.

Example Sentences

Notice, too, that the shaft is not straight, but bent so that the upper surface of the feather is convex, and the lower concave.

Big fellows they were, all of them, their barbaric headdresses and grotesquely painted faces, together with their many metal ornaments and gorgeously coloured feathers, adding to their wild, fierce appearance.

Nesting birds pluck some of their own feathers to line the nest, but feather plucking in pet birds is entirely different.

Near-synonym: spline

I am not of that feather to shake off / My friend when he must need me.

To some pew purchasers he gave deeds, to others he gave, none, but both were promised security, and both it seems were equally secure, for the pew deed as Mr. Melledge declared to Mr. G. was not worth a feather.

Signal M123 is a conventional 3-aspect colour light with three Junction Indicators - commonly known as 'feathers'.

An Eagle had the ill Hap to be Struck with an Arrow Feather'd from her own Wing.

Word Forms

• feathers
• fether
• feathering
• feathered

Synonyms for feather

Antonyms for feather

Related Words

When Should You Use Feather?

Use feather when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

Practice This Word

Frequently Asked Questions