ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Feed

/ˈfiːd/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive) To give (someone or something) food to eat..

Definitions by Sense

  1. (transitive) To give (someone or something) food to eat.
  2. (intransitive) To eat (usually of animals).
  3. (ditransitive) To give (someone or something) to (someone or something else) as food.
  4. (transitive) To give to a machine to be processed.
  5. (transitive) To supply (a machine) with something to be processed.
  6. (transitive, figurative) To satisfy, gratify, or minister to (a sense, taste, desire, etc.).
  7. (transitive) To supply with something.
  8. (transitive) To graze; to cause to be cropped by feeding, as herbage by cattle.

Example Sentences

Feed the dog every evening.
If thine enemy hunger, feed him.
Spiders feed on gnats and flies.
“The treasurer was of the same opinion: he showed to what straits his majesty’s revenue was reduced, by the charge of maintaining you, which would soon grow insupportable; that the secretary’s expedient of putting out your eyes, was so far from being a remedy against this evil, that it would probably increase it, as is manifest from the common practice of blinding some kind of fowls, after which they fed the faster, and grew sooner fat;[...]
But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge,[…].
If we have time we might go on to Brighton, feed at the 'Ship,' and come back in the cool.
While feeding, the basking shark swims at about two knots per hour, and this enables it to eat and breathe in the same motion.
Don't feed him too much; he's still a baby.

Word Forms

Synonyms for feed

Antonyms for feed

Related Words

When Should You Use Feed?

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

Practice This Word

Frequently Asked Questions

What does feed mean?

Feed means (transitive) To give (someone or something) food to eat..

What is a synonym for feed?

Common synonyms include nourish, feast, give, prey.

What is the opposite of feed?

Possible antonyms include starve.

How do you use feed in a sentence?

Feed the dog every evening.

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.