Feed — Defs

01 v. t. To give food to; to supply with nourishment; to satisfy the physical huger of.

imp. & p. p. Fed; p. pr. & vb. n. Feeding

1.
To give food to; to supply with nourishment; to satisfy the physical huger of.
“If thine enemy hunger, feed him.” — Rom. xii. 20.

“Unreasonable creatures feed their young.” — Shak.
2.
To satisfy; gratify or minister to, as any sense, talent, taste, or desire.
“I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.” — Shak.

“Feeding him with the hope of liberty.” — Knolles.
3.
To fill the wants of; to supply with that which is used or wasted; as, springs feed ponds; the hopper feeds the mill; to feed a furnace with coal.
4.
To nourish, in a general sense; to foster, strengthen, develop, and guard.
“Thou shalt feed my people Israel.” — 2 Sam. v. 2.

“Mightiest powers by deepest calms are fed.” — B. Cornwall.
5.
To graze; to cause to be cropped by feeding, as herbage by cattle; as, if grain is too forward in autumn, feed it with sheep.
“Once in three years feed your mowing lands.” — Mortimer.
6.
To give for food, especially to animals; to furnish for consumption; as, to feed out turnips to the cows; to feed water to a steam boiler.
7.
To supply (the material to be operated upon) to a machine; as, to feed paper to a printing press.(Mach.)

02 v. i. To take food; to eat.

1.
To take food; to eat.
“Her kid . . . which I afterwards killed because it would not feed.” — De Foe.
2.
To subject by eating; to satisfy the appetite; to feed one's self (upon something); to prey; -- with on or upon.
“Leaving thy trunk for crows to feed upon.” — Shak.
3.
To be nourished, strengthened, or satisfied, as if by food.
4.
To place cattle to feed; to pasture; to graze.
“If a man . . . shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field.” — Ex. xxii. 5.

03 n. That which is eaten; esp., food for beasts; fodder; pasture; hay; grain, ground or whole; as, the best feed for sheep.

1.
That which is eaten; esp., food for beasts; fodder; pasture; hay; grain, ground or whole; as, the best feed for sheep.
2.
A grazing or pasture ground.
3.
An allowance of provender given to a horse, cow, etc.; a meal; as, a feed of corn or oats.
4.
A meal, or the act of eating.[R.]
“For such pleasure till that hour At feed or fountain never had I found.” — Milton.
5.
The water supplied to steam boilers.
6.
The motion, or act, of carrying forward the stuff to be operated upon, as cloth to the needle in a sewing machine; or of producing progressive operation upon any material or object in a machine, as, in a turning lathe, by moving the cutting tool along or in the work.(Mach.)

Phrases & compounds

Feed bag — a nose bag containing feed for a horse or mule.

Feed cloth — an apron for leading cotton, wool, or other fiber, into a machine, as for carding, etc.

Feed door — a door to a furnace, by which to supply coal.

Feed head — A cistern for feeding water by gravity to a steam boiler.

Feed heater — A vessel in which the feed water for the boiler is heated, usually by exhaust steam.

Feed motion — the train of mechanism that gives motion to the part that directly produces the feed in a machine.

Feed pipe — a pipe for supplying the boiler of a steam engine, etc., with water.

Feed pump — a force pump for supplying water to a steam boiler, etc.

Feed regulator — a device for graduating the operation of a feeder.

Feed screw — in lathes, a long screw employed to impart a regular motion to a tool rest or tool, or to the work.

Feed water — water supplied to a steam boiler, etc.

Feed wheel — a kind of feeder. See Feeder, n., 8.