feed
♦♦ feed /f'iːd/ (feeds feeding fed)
1 [VERB] V n, V n on/with n, V n to n, also V pron-refl
If you feed a person or animal, you give them food to eat and sometimes actually put it in their mouths.
We brought along pieces of old bread and fed the birds...
In that part of the world you can feed cattle on almost any green vegetable or fruit...
He spooned the ice cream into a cup and fed it to her.
[N-COUNT]
Feed is also a noun. (mainly BRIT)
She's had a good feed.
● feeding [N-UNCOUNT]
The feeding of dairy cows has undergone a revolution.
2 [VERB] V n, V n
To feed a family or a community means to supply food for them.
Feeding a hungry family can be expensive .
...a food reserve large enough to feed the Sudanese population for many months.
3 [VERB] V, V on/off n
When an animal feeds, it eats or drinks something.
After a few days the caterpillars stopped feeding...
Slugs feed on decaying plant and animal material.
4 [VERB] V, V n
When a baby feeds, or when you feed it, it drinks breast milk or milk from a bottle.
When a baby is thirsty, it feeds more often...
I knew absolutely nothing about handling or feeding a baby.
5 [N-MASS] usu n N
Animal feed is food given to animals, especially farm animals.
The grain just rotted and all they could use it for was animal feed.
...poultry feed.
6 [VERB] V n prep, V n prep
To feed something to a place, means to supply it to that place in a steady flow.
...blood vessels that feed blood to the brain.
...gas fed through pipelines.
7 [VERB] V n prep
If you feed something into a container or piece of equipment, you put it into it.
She was feeding documents into a paper shredder.
8 [VERB] V n n, V n with n, also V n to n
If someone feeds you false or secret information, they deliberately tell it to you.
He was surrounded by people who fed him ghastly lies...
At least one British officer was feeding him with classified information.
9 [VERB] V n
If you feed a plant, you add substances to it to make it grow well.
Feed plants to encourage steady growth.
10 [VERB] V on n
If one thing feeds on another, it becomes stronger as a result of the other thing's existence.
The drinking and the guilt fed on each other.
11 [VERB] V n into/to n
To feed information into a computer means to gradually put it into it.
An automatic weather station feeds information on wind direction to the computer.
12
to bite the hand that feeds you: see bite
mouths to feed: see mouthchick|en feed
also chickenfeed
[N-UNCOUNT]
If you think that an amount of money is so small it is hardly worth having or considering, you can say that it is chicken feed.
I was making a million a year, but that's chicken feed in the pop business.
= peanuts
1 [VERB] V n, V n on/with n, V n to n, also V pron-refl
If you feed a person or animal, you give them food to eat and sometimes actually put it in their mouths.
We brought along pieces of old bread and fed the birds...
In that part of the world you can feed cattle on almost any green vegetable or fruit...
He spooned the ice cream into a cup and fed it to her.
[N-COUNT]
Feed is also a noun. (mainly BRIT)
She's had a good feed.
● feeding [N-UNCOUNT]
The feeding of dairy cows has undergone a revolution.
2 [VERB] V n, V n
To feed a family or a community means to supply food for them.
Feeding a hungry family can be expensive .
...a food reserve large enough to feed the Sudanese population for many months.
3 [VERB] V, V on/off n
When an animal feeds, it eats or drinks something.
After a few days the caterpillars stopped feeding...
Slugs feed on decaying plant and animal material.
4 [VERB] V, V n
When a baby feeds, or when you feed it, it drinks breast milk or milk from a bottle.
When a baby is thirsty, it feeds more often...
I knew absolutely nothing about handling or feeding a baby.
5 [N-MASS] usu n N
Animal feed is food given to animals, especially farm animals.
The grain just rotted and all they could use it for was animal feed.
...poultry feed.
6 [VERB] V n prep, V n prep
To feed something to a place, means to supply it to that place in a steady flow.
...blood vessels that feed blood to the brain.
...gas fed through pipelines.
7 [VERB] V n prep
If you feed something into a container or piece of equipment, you put it into it.
She was feeding documents into a paper shredder.
8 [VERB] V n n, V n with n, also V n to n
If someone feeds you false or secret information, they deliberately tell it to you.
He was surrounded by people who fed him ghastly lies...
At least one British officer was feeding him with classified information.
9 [VERB] V n
If you feed a plant, you add substances to it to make it grow well.
Feed plants to encourage steady growth.
10 [VERB] V on n
If one thing feeds on another, it becomes stronger as a result of the other thing's existence.
The drinking and the guilt fed on each other.
11 [VERB] V n into/to n
To feed information into a computer means to gradually put it into it.
An automatic weather station feeds information on wind direction to the computer.
12
to bite the hand that feeds you: see bite
mouths to feed: see mouthchick|en feed
also chickenfeed
[N-UNCOUNT]
If you think that an amount of money is so small it is hardly worth having or considering, you can say that it is chicken feed.
I was making a million a year, but that's chicken feed in the pop business.
= peanuts