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(fd), v. t.[imp. & p. p.Fed (fd); p. pr. & vb. n.Feeding.] [AS. fdan, fr. fda food; akin to OS. fdian, OFries. fda, fda, D. voeden, OHG. fuottan, Icel. fa, Sw. fda, Dan. fde. 75. See Food.] 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 Feed v. i. 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. "He feeds upon the cooling shade." Spenser. 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. Feed (), n. 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. Shak. 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. (Mach.) (a) 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. (b) The supply of material to a machine, as water to a steam boiler, coal to a furnace, or grain to a run of stones. (c) The mechanism by which the action of feeding is produced; a feed motion. Feed bag, a nose bag containing feed for a horse or mule. Feed cloth, an apron for leading cotton, wool, or other fib スポンサード リンク
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