Definition

1. Verb:

   • To give food to a person or an animal: The primary meaning of "feed" is to provide nourishment.
   • To eat (used for animals): "Feed" can also mean the act of an animal consuming food.
   • To supply or provide something necessary for operation or growth: This can refer to providing material to a machine, data to a system, or support to an emotion or activity.
   • To flow into or lead to: Used for liquids or things that move into a larger body or system.

2. Noun:

   • Food given to livestock or animals: "Feed" refers to the food itself, especially for animals.
   • An act of supplying something: In technology, it can mean a stream of provided data or content.
   • A meal (informal): Used informally to refer to a large or satisfying meal.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • She will feed the baby. (She will give food to the baby.)
  • Cows feed on grass. (Cows eat grass.)
  • Please feed the documents into the scanner. (Please supply the documents to the scanner.)
  • These small streams feed the river. (These small streams flow into the river.)

• Noun:

  • We bought bags of chicken feed. (We bought bags of food for chickens.)
  • I subscribed to a news feed. (I subscribed to a stream of news data.)
  • That was a fantastic feed! (That was a fantastic meal!)

Advanced Usage

• "to feed on/upon something": to consume as food; to gain strength or satisfaction from something (often abstract).

  • Bats feed on insects. (Bats eat insects.)
  • Rumors feed on uncertainty. (Rumors grow stronger because of uncertainty.)

• "to feed into something": to flow or lead into; to contribute to a larger process or result.

  • All the research data feeds into the final report. (All the research data contributes to the final report.)

• "to feed someone a line": to tell someone something that is not true, often to deceive or flatter them.

  • He fed me a line about being a famous director. (He told me an untrue story about being a famous director.)

Variants and Related Words

• Feeder (n): 1. A person or thing that supplies food. 2. A tributary stream. 3. A child's bib.

  • The bird feeder is full. (The device that supplies food for birds is full.)
  • The river has many small feeders. (The river has many small tributary streams.)

• Feeding (n): The act of giving or taking food.

  • The feeding of the animals happens at dawn. (The act of giving food to the animals happens at dawn.)

Synonyms

• Nourish (v): to provide with food or other substances necessary for life and growth.
• Supply (v): to make something needed available to someone or something.
• Provender (n): dry food for livestock.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Feed back: to return information or results to the source.

  • The microphone fed back with a loud screech. (The microphone returned sound to the amplifier, causing a loud noise.)
  • Please feed back your comments to the manager. (Please return your comments to the manager.)

• Feed up: to give a person or animal a lot of food to make them fatter or healthier.

  • The farmer is feeding up the cattle for market. (The farmer is giving the cattle a lot of food to make them fatter for sale.)

Related Idioms

• Off one's feed: not wanting to eat; having a poor appetite.

  • The dog has been off its feed since yesterday. (The dog hasn't wanted to eat since yesterday.)

• Fed up (with someone/something): annoyed or bored with something that has been happening for too long.

  • I am fed up with all these delays. (I am very annoyed by all these delays.)

Noun

1. food for domestic livestock

Verb

1. provide with fertilizers or add nutrients to
   • We should fertilize soil if we want to grow healthy plants
2. gratify
   • feed one's eyes on a gorgeous view
3. profit from in an exploitatory manner
   • He feeds on her insecurity
4. move along, of liquids
   • Water flowed into the cave
   • the Missouri feeds into the Mississippi
5. serve as food for; be the food for
   • This dish feeds six
6. take in food; used of animals only
   • This dog doesn't eat certain kinds of meat
   • What do whales eat?
7. support or promote
   • His admiration fed her vanity
8. introduce continuously
   • feed carrots into a food processor
9. feed into; supply
   • Her success feeds her vanity
10. give food to
    • Feed the starving children in India
    • don't give the child this tough meat
11. provide as food
    • Feed the guests the nuts