<B>feed, </B>verb, <B>fed,</B> <B>feeding,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to give food to. <BR> <I>Ex. We feed a baby who cannot feed himself. And He that doth the ravens feed ... Be comfort to my age! (Shakespeare). (Figurative.) He has fed his people with a steady diet of "blood, sweat, and tears" speeches (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to give as food. <BR> <I>Ex. Feed this grain to the chickens.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to cause to grow; nourish. <BR> <I>Ex. He fed his anger with thoughts of revenge.</I> (SYN) sustain. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>to satisfy; gratify. <BR> <I>Ex. Praise fed his vanity.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to comfort (someone) with false hopes. <DD><B> 5a. </B>to supply (material to be used up) as to a fire or reservoir. <BR> <I>Ex. to feed kerosene to a lamp, to feed information into a computer.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to provide or supply (anything). <BR> <I>Ex. "I've had to keep feeding money into my broker so I wouldn't get sold out" (James T. Farrell).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>to supply with material. <BR> <I>Ex. to feed a machine. Feed the fire with more logs.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>to yield or serve as food for. <BR> <I>Ex. Grass feeds cows.</I> (SYN) sustain. <DD><B> 8. </B>to use (land) for grazing. <DD><B> 9. </B>(Theater.) to supply (another actor) with cues. <DD><B> 10. </B>(Sports.) to pass or give (the puck or ball) to a teammate. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>(of animals) to eat. <BR> <I>Ex. We put cows to feed in the pasture. Cattle and horses feed on hay.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to go into a machine or the like for processing or other use. <BR> <I>Ex. information feeding into the computer.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>food for animals; fodder. <BR> <I>Ex. Give the chickens their feed.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the allowance of food for an animal. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) a meal for a person. <BR> <I>Ex. What a feed we had last night!</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the act of feeding. <DD><B> 4. </B>the act or process of supplying a machine, or the like, with material. <DD><B> 5. </B>the material supplied. <DD><B> 6. </B>a part of a machine that supplies material. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Theater.) <DD><B> a. </B>a line or cue to which a comedian replies with a line that gets a laugh. <DD><B> b. </B><B>=feeder.</B> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Sports.) a pass or hand-off of the puck or ball. <BR> <I>Ex. He gave him a pretty feed near the Vermonter's cage (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>(Obsolete.) pasture ground. <BR> <I>Ex. His flocks and bounds of feed Are now on sale (Shakespeare).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>feed on</B> (or <B>upon</B>), <DD><B> a. </B>to live at the expense of; prey on. </I> <I>Ex. All feed on one vain patron (Alexander Pope).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to derive satisfaction or support from. <BR> <I>Ex. Grant me to feed on beauty's rifled charms (Robert Pollok).</I> adj. <B>feedable.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="feedback">
<B>feedback, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a process by which a system or device regulates itself by feeding back to itself part of its output. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Biology.) a process whereby the course of a reaction is controlled by the activity of some of the products of the reaction. <DD><B> 3. </B>a reciprocal effect of one person or thing upon another, especially as a reaction that affects the behavior of whatever produced the reaction. <BR> <I>Ex. Primitives treat things and animals as people, and experience feedback from them (Manchester Guardian Weekly). Outsiders are unable to penetrate the continuing feedback between the [Army Engineers] Corps and the congressional committees (Elizabeth B. Drew).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> characterized by or using feedback. <BR> <I>Ex. a feedback amplifier, a feedback oscillator. No array of feedback arguments is the product of team activity (Merle A. Ture).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="feedbackinhibition">
<B>feedback inhibition,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Biochemistry.) a form of cellular control by which a mechanism producing a particular substance in the cell is inhibited at a certain level of accumulation of that substance, thereby balancing the amount produced with the amount needed. </DL>
<A NAME="feedbackloop">
<B>feedback loop,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the path through a feedback system or device from input to output and back to input. </DL>
<A NAME="feedbag">
<B>feedbag, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a bag for holding food, hung on a horse's head; nose bag. <BR><I>expr. <B>put on the feedbag,</B> </I>(Slang.) to eat. <BR> <I>Ex. Let's stop talking and put on the feedbag.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="feedbox">
<B>feedbox, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a box used in feeding livestock. <DD><B> 2. </B>a box containing a feed motion and related apparatus for feeding a machine. </DL>
<A NAME="feedcrop">
<B>feed crop,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a crop grown as feed for livestock, as distinguished from a cash crop. </DL>
<A NAME="feeder">
<B>feeder, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that feeds. <BR> <I>Ex. a heavy feeder.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person or device that supplies food to a person or animal. <DD><B> 3. </B>a thing that supplies something else with material. <BR> <I>Ex. These brooks are feeders of the big river. That branch railroad that brings traffic to the main line is a feeder.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a steer, lamb, or other livestock, to be or being fattened for slaughtering. <DD><B> 5. </B>a person or device that supplies material to a machine, fuel to a furnace, or similar device, such as a mechanical device for producing and delivering molten glass to a glass-forming unit. <DD><B> 6. </B>a wire or cable used to conduct electricity from a source to a distribution point. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Theater.) <DD><B> a. </B>a comedian's straight man, who feeds him cues for his comic lines; feed. <DD><B> b. </B>a part that supplies such cues. </DL>
<A NAME="feederline">
<B>feeder line,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a branch airline or railroad. </DL>
<A NAME="feederroad">
<B>feeder road,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a secondary road that leads traffic to a major road such as a turnpike or an expressway. <BR> <I>Ex. Feeder roads are considered essential to connect the proposed ferry terminal ... with U.S. 13 and State Route 113 (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="feedforward">
<B>feedforward, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the control of a feedback process by anticipating any defects in the process before it is carried out. <BR> <I>Ex. This more "intelligent" type of control is known as "feedforward" as opposed to feedback, and essentially it involves locating the sensor at the input end (Kenneth Owen).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="feedgrain">
<B>feed grain,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> grain used as livestock feed. <BR> <I>Ex. Corn, wheat, and sorghum are feed grains.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="feedin">
<B>feed-in, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a gathering of people to receive free food. <BR> <I>Ex. Even food, modest but nourishing, was provided for penniless but hungry travelers at the two or three daily "feed-ins" (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="feedingfrenzy">
<B>feeding frenzy,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) the frantic pursuit of anything, as of profit, markets, art, or the like. <BR> <I>Ex. Charles Saatchi ... was soon buying Chia [paintings], and other collectors quickly went into a feeding frenzy (Anthony Haden-Guest).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="feedinggrounds">
<B>feeding grounds,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any area of land or water where birds, fish, or wild animals gather to eat, usually for an extended period each year. </DL>
<B>feed lot,</B> or <B>feedlot, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an establishment, often a farm, near a slaughtering center, where cattle shipped from a distance are fattened for the market. </DL>
<A NAME="feedmill">
<B>feed mill,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a mill in which feed for livestock is prepared. </DL>
<A NAME="feedstock">
<B>feedstock, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> oil, methane, or other principal materials in a chemical process producing petroleum products such as synthetic rubber. </DL>
<A NAME="feedstuff">
<B>feedstuff, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> feed for livestock. <BR> <I>Ex. They could qualify for cheap feedstuffs provided under the Federal program (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="feedtrough">
<B>feed trough,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(U.S.) a trough in which the feed for domestic animals is placed. <DD><B> 2. </B>a tank or trough containing a supply of water for a steam-driven locomotive. </DL>
<A NAME="feedwater">
<B>feedwater, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a supply of water for a boiler, reactor, or the like. </DL>
<A NAME="feefawfum">
<B>fee-faw-fum, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>nonsense fitted only to terrify children; absurdity; humbug. <DD><B> 2. </B>a bloodthirsty person. </DL>
