Link Centre Dictionary

feed

UK/fiːd/ US/fɪjd/ common uk
verb (11) noun (1)

verb

1.

provide as food

  • “Feed the guests the nuts”
2.

give food to

  • “Feed the starving children in India”
  • “don”
Synonyms
Antonyms
3.

feed into; supply

  • “Her success feeds her vanity”
4.

introduce continuously

  • “feed carrots into a food processor”
Synonyms
5.

support or promote

  • “His admiration fed her vanity”
6.

take in food; used of animals only

  • “This dog doesn”
  • “;”
Synonyms
7.

serve as food for; be the food for

  • “This dish feeds six”
8.

move along, of liquids

  • “Water flowed into the cave”
  • “the Missouri feeds into the Mississippi”
Synonyms
9.

profit from in an exploitatory manner

  • “He feeds on her insecurity”
Synonyms
10.

gratify

  • “feed one”
Synonyms
11.

provide with fertilizers or add nutrients to

  • “We should fertilize soil if we want to grow healthy plants”
Synonyms

noun

1.

Origin

From Middle English feden, from Old English fēdan (“to feed”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōdijan, from Proto-Germanic *fōdijaną (“to feed”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to guard, graze, feed”). Cognate with West Frisian fiede (“to nourish, feed”), Dutch voeden (“to feed”), Danish føde (“to bring forth, feed”), Swedish föda (“to bring forth, feed”), Icelandic fæða (“to feed”), and more distantly with Latin pāscō (“feed, nourish”, verb) through Indo-European. More at food, fodder.

Phrases

  • a closed mouth doesn't get fed
  • animal feed Terms derived from the noun feed
  • atom feed Internet: syndication or aggregation
  • bite the hand that feeds one
  • data feed Internet: syndication or aggregation
  • don't feed the troll
  • fed cattle
  • feed a cold, starve a fever
  • feed and water
  • feed back
  • feed into
  • Internet feed Internet: syndication or aggregation

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Related verbs

Causes

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.