feed
[verb]
Synonyms:
- cater for, nourish, provide for, provision, supply, sustain, victual, wine and dine
- sometimes with on: eat, devour, exist on, live on, partake of
[noun]
Synonyms:
- food, fodder, pasturage, provender
- meal, feast, nosh (slang), repast, spread (informal)

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Related Words: banquet, feast, meal, repast

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. feed¹ S1 W2 /fiːd/ verb (past tense and past participle fed /fed/)
[Language: Old English; Origin: fedan; related to food]

1. GIVE FOOD [transitive]
a) to give food to a person or animal:
Have you fed the cat?
feed yourself
She was too weak to feed herself.
feed something to somebody
Several children were feeding bread to the ducks.
feed somebody on/with something
They were fed well on her mother’s home cooking.
b) to provide enough food for a group of people:
groceries to feed a family of five
The prison is required to feed and clothe the prisoners.

2. PLANT [transitive] to give a special substance to a plant, which helps it grow:
Feed the tomatoes once a week.
feed something with something
Feed houseplants with a liquid fertilizer.

3. ANIMAL/BABY [intransitive] if a baby or an animal feeds, they eat:
Frogs generally feed at night.
Let your baby feed as long as she wants.

4. well-fed/under-fed/poorly-fed having plenty of food or not enough food:
a well-dressed, well-fed woman

5. COMPUTER [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to put information into a computer over a period of time
feed something into something
Figures are fed into the computer, which then predicts the likely profit.

6. SUPPLY SOMETHING [transitive] to supply something, especially a liquid, gas, or electricity:
The public baths are fed by natural springs.
feed something to something
The sound is fed directly to the headphones.
feed something with something
Laura crouched by the fire, feeding it with dry sticks.

7. PUT SOMETHING INTO SOMETHING [transitive] to put something into something else, especially gradually and through a small hole
feed something into/through something
A tube was fed down the patient’s throat into her stomach.
feed something into something
She fed her last two coins into the machine for a cup of coffee.
Shelton fed the electricity meter.

8. INCREASE EMOTION [transitive] to increase the strength of an emotion, desire etc:
Her depression grew, fed by her bitter experiences.

9. feed an addiction/need etc to satisfy a strong need, such as a need for a drug:
He committed both crimes to feed his addiction to heroin.

10. INFORMATION [transitive] to give someone information or ideas over a period time
feed somebody with something
She feeds the media with stories, which is a way of getting free advertising.
feed something to somebody
US intelligence had been feeding false information to a KGB agent.

11. SPORT [transitive] to throw or hit a ball to someone else on your team, especially so that they can make a point
feed something to somebody
He fed the ball to Jol, who scored.

12. feed lines/jokes to somebody to say things to another performer so that they can make jokes

13. feed your face informal to eat a lot of food Synonym : stuff yourself

14. TV/RADIO [transitive] to send a television or radio programme somewhere so that it can be broadcast

15. feed somebody a line informal to tell someone something which is not true, so that they will do what you want
⇒ breast-feed, force-feed, spoon-feed, ⇒ mouth to feed at mouth¹(10)
feed back phrasal verb
to give advice or criticism to someone about something they have done
feed back on
We’re just waiting for the manager to feed back on it.
feed something ↔ back (to somebody)
I am grateful to all those who fed back their comments.
They feed back to the government the reactions of the people affected.
feed into something phrasal verb
to have an effect on something or help to make it happen:
The influence of Italian designer fashion feeds into sports fashion.
feed off something phrasal verb

1. if an animal feeds off something, it gets food from it:
birds that feed off the seeds from trees

2. to use something to increase, become stronger, or succeed – sometimes used to show disapproval:
fad diets that feed off our desire to be thin
feed on something phrasal verb

1. if an animal feeds on a particular food, it usually eats that food:
Owls feed on mice and other small animals.

2. if a feeling or process feeds on something, it becomes stronger because of it:
Prejudice feeds on ignorance.
feed somebody up phrasal verb British English
to give someone a lot of food to make them more healthy Synonym : fatten up American English

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. feed² noun

1. BABY [countable] British English one of the times when you give milk to a small baby:
the two a.m. feed

2. ANIMAL FOOD [uncountable] food for animals:
fish feed

3. SUPPLY [countable] a tube or piece of equipment which supplies a machine with something, especially fuel

4. TV/RADIO/COMPUTER [uncountable and countable] when a television or radio signal, computer information etc is sent somewhere, or the connection that is used to do this:
a live satellite feed from the space station

5. MEAL [countable] old-fashioned a big meal

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

feed
verb
I. give food to a person/animal/plant
ADV. properly, well Have they been feeding you well?
regularly
VERB + FEED help (to) Let us discipline ourselves so as to help feed a hungry world.
PREP. on She fed the children on baked beans and fish fingers.
to Most of the crop is fed to the cattle.
with The animals are fed with hay and grass.
PHRASES a mouth to feed He saw the new baby as just another mouth to feed.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

feed
II. eat
ADV. voraciously The bears feed voraciously in summer and store energy as fat.
busily Egrets and a solitary grey heron were busily feeding.
mainly, predominantly | exclusively
PREP. on The seals feed mainly on fish and squid.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

feed
III. supply sth
ADV. directly
PREP. into The data is fed directly into a computer.
through This feeds the paper through to the printer.
to, with feeding the media with rumours and accusations

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

feed
̈ɪfi:d
See: bite the hand that feeds one , chicken feed , off feed or off one's feed , spoon feed

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲