feed

/fid/

/fid/

Other forms: fed; feeding; feeds

To feed someone is to give them something to eat. Part of your daily morning routine might be remembering to feed your cat.

When you feed a dog, you put food in his bowl, and when you feed your extended family, you might cook them a Thanksgiving feast. Animals are sometimes said "to feed," or to consume or eat, and you can also use the word to mean "food for an animal," or "to supply or promote." The Old English root is fedan, "nourish, sustain, or foster."

Definitions of feed

1. verb

   provide as food
   “Feed the guests the nuts”

   type of:

   cater, ply, provide, supply

   give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance
2. verb

   give food to
   “Feed the starving children in India”

   synonyms: give

   antonyms:

   starve

   deprive of food

   starve

   deprive of a necessity and cause suffering

   types:

   dine

   give dinner to; host for dinner

   scavenge

   feed on carrion or refuse

   fodder

   give fodder (to domesticated animals)

   slop, swill

   feed pigs

   regurgitate

   feed through the beak by regurgitating previously swallowed food

   corn

   feed (cattle) with corn

   malnourish, undernourish

   provide with insufficient quality or quantity of nourishment

   overfeed

   feed excessively

   spoonfeed

   feed with a spoon

   force-feed

   feed someone who will not or cannot eat

   lunch

   provide a midday meal for

   breakfast

   provide breakfast for

   breastfeed, give suck, lactate, nurse, suck, suckle, wet-nurse

   give suck to

   bottlefeed

   feed (infants) with a bottle

   inject

   feed intravenously

   aliment, nourish, nutrify

   give nourishment to

   range

   let eat

   crop, graze, pasture

   let feed in a field or pasture or meadow

   grass

   feed with grass

   drift

   drive slowly and far afield for grazing

   type of:

   cater, ply, provide, supply

   give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance
3. verb

   take in food; used of animals only
   synonyms: eat

   eat

   take in solid food

   types:

   forage

   wander and feed

   raven

   feed greedily

   suckle

   suck milk from the mother's breasts

   browse, crop, graze, pasture, range

   feed as in a meadow or pasture

   predate, prey, raven

   prey on or hunt for

   type of:

   consume, have, ingest, take, take in

   serve oneself to, or consume regularly
4. verb

   serve as food for; be the food for
   “This dish feeds six”

   type of:

   cater, ply, provide, supply

   give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance
5. verb

   provide with fertilizers or add nutrients to
   synonyms: fertilise, fertilize

   types:

   nitrify

   treat (soil) with nitrates

   dung

   fertilize or dress with dung

   topdress

   scatter manure or fertilizer over (land)

   type of:

   enrich

   make better or improve in quality
6. noun

   food for domestic livestock
   synonyms: provender

   types:

   blood meal

   the dried and powdered blood of animals

   corn gluten feed

   a feed consisting primarily of corn gluten

   cattle cake

   a concentrated feed for cattle; processed in the form of blocks or cakes

   creep feed

   feed given to young animals isolated in a creep

   fodder

   coarse food (especially for livestock) composed of entire plants or the leaves and stalks of a cereal crop

   feed grain

   grain grown for cattle feed

   ensilage, silage

   fodder harvested while green and kept succulent by partial fermentation as in a silo

   oil cake

   mass of e.g. linseed or cottonseed or soybean from which the oil has been pressed; used as food for livestock

   pigswill, pigwash, slop, slops, swill

   wet feed (especially for pigs) consisting of mostly kitchen waste mixed with water or skimmed or sour milk

   mash

   mixture of ground animal feeds

   cud, rechewed food

   food of a ruminant regurgitated to be chewed again

   bird feed, bird food, birdseed

   food given to birds; usually mixed seeds

   pet food, pet-food, petfood

   food prepared for animal pets

   mast

   nuts of forest trees used as feed for swine

   fish meal

   ground dried fish used as fertilizer and as feed for domestic livestock

   eatage, forage, grass, pasturage, pasture

   bulky food like grass or hay for browsing or grazing horses or cattle

   oil meal

   ground oil cake

   alfalfa

   leguminous plant grown for hay or forage

   broad bean, horse bean

   a bean plant cultivated for use animal fodder

   hay

   grass mowed and cured for use as fodder

   stover

   the dried stalks and leaves of a field crop (especially corn) used as animal fodder after the grain has been harvested

   chicken feed, scratch

   dry mash for poultry

   dog food

   food prepared for dogs

   cat food

   food prepared for cats

   canary seed

   a mixture of seeds used to feed caged birds

   type of:

   food, nutrient

   any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue
7. verb

   move along, of liquids
   “the Missouri feeds into the Mississippi”

   synonyms: course, flow, run

   types:

   flush

   flow freely

   gush, jet

   issue in a jet; come out in a jet; stream or spring forth

   surge, tide

   rise or move forward

   circulate

   move through a space, circuit or system, returning to the starting point

   eddy, purl, swirl, whirl, whirlpool

   flow in a circular current, of liquids

   run off, waste

   run off as waste

   run down

   move downward

   pour

   flow in a spurt

   run out, spill

   flow, run or fall out and become lost

   stream, well out

   flow freely and abundantly

   dribble, filter, trickle

   run or flow slowly, as in drops or in an unsteady stream

   drain, run out

   flow off gradually

   ooze, seep

   pass gradually or leak through or as if through small openings

   gutter

   flow in small streams

   flush down, wash down

   flow freely

   ventilate

   circulate through and freshen

   spin

   stream in jets, of liquids

   gush, spirt, spout, spurt

   gush forth in a sudden stream or jet

   regurgitate

   pour or rush back

   leach, percolate

   permeate or penetrate gradually

   brim over, overflow, overrun, run over, well over

   flow or run over (a limit or brim)

   type of:

   move

   move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion
8. verb

   feed into; supply
   “Her success feeds her vanity”

   type of:

   furnish, provide, render, supply

   give something useful or necessary to
9. verb

   introduce continuously
   “feed carrots into a food processor”

   synonyms: feed in

   type of:

   enclose, inclose, insert, introduce, put in, stick in

   introduce
10. verb

    support or promote
    “His admiration fed her vanity”

    type of:

    advance, boost, encourage, further, promote

    contribute to the progress or growth of
11. verb

    gratify
    “feed one's eyes on a gorgeous view”

    synonyms: feast

    type of:

    regale, treat

    provide with choice or abundant food or drink
12. verb

    profit from in an exploitatory manner
    “He feeds on her insecurity”

    synonyms: prey

    type of:

    exploit, work

    use or manipulate to one's advantage