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FEED
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Irregular inflected forms: fed , feed
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Food for domestic livestock
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting foods and drinks
Hypernyms ("feed" is a kind of...):
food; nutrient (any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "feed"):
fish meal (ground dried fish used as fertilizer and as feed for domestic livestock)
mast (nuts of forest trees used as feed for swine)
pet-food; pet food; petfood (food prepared for animal pets)
bird feed; bird food; birdseed (food given to birds; usually mixed seeds)
cud; rechewed food (food of a ruminant regurgitated to be chewed again)
mash (mixture of ground animal feeds)
pigswill; pigwash; slop; slops; swill (wet feed (especially for pigs) consisting of mostly kitchen waste mixed with water or skimmed or sour milk)
oil cake (mass of e.g. linseed or cottonseed or soybean from which the oil has been pressed; used as food for livestock)
ensilage; silage (fodder harvested while green and kept succulent by partial fermentation as in a silo)
feed grain (grain grown for cattle feed)
fodder (coarse food (especially for livestock) composed of entire plants or the leaves and stalks of a cereal crop)
creep feed (feed given to young animals isolated in a creep)
cattle cake (a concentrated feed for cattle; processed in the form of blocks or cakes)
corn gluten feed (a feed consisting primarily of corn gluten)
blood meal (the dried and powdered blood of animals)
Derivation:
feed (take in food; used of animals only)
feed (serve as food for; be the food for)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they feed ... he / she / it feeds
Past simple: fed
Past participle: fed
-ing form: feeding
Sense 1
Meaning:
Introduce continuously
Example:
feed carrots into a food processor
Synonyms:
feed; feed in
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "feed" is one way to...):
enclose; inclose; insert; introduce; put in; stick in (place, fit, or thrust (something) into another thing)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something PP
Somebody ----s something with something
Derivation:
feeder (a machine that automatically provides a supply of some material)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Provide with fertilizers or add nutrients to
Example:
We should fertilize soil if we want to grow healthy plants
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "feed" is one way to...):
enrich (make better or improve in quality)
Domain category:
agriculture; farming; husbandry (the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "feed"):
topdress (scatter manure or fertilizer over (land))
dung (fertilize or dress with dung)
nitrify (treat (soil) with nitrates)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sentence example:
They feed the trees
Sense 3
Meaning:
Give food to
Example:
don't give the child this tough meat
Synonyms:
feed; give
Classified under:
Hypernyms (to "feed" is one way to...):
cater; ply; provide; supply (give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance)
Cause:
eat (take in solid food)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "feed"):
crop; graze; pasture (let feed in a field or pasture or meadow)
range (let eat)
aliment; nourish; nutrify (give nourishment to)
inject (feed intravenously)
bottlefeed (feed (infants) with a bottle)
breastfeed; give suck; lactate; nurse; suck; suckle; wet-nurse (give suck to)
breakfast (provide breakfast for)
lunch (provide a midday meal for)
force-feed (feed someone who will not or cannot eat)
spoonfeed (feed with a spoon)
overfeed (feed excessively)
malnourish; undernourish (provide with insufficient quality or quantity of nourishment)
corn (feed (cattle) with corn)
regurgitate (feed through the beak by regurgitating previously swallowed food)
slop; swill (feed pigs)
fodder (give fodder (to domesticated animals))
scavenge (feed on carrion or refuse)
dine (give dinner to; host for dinner)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Sentence examples:
They feed the food to the people
They feed the people the food
Antonym:
starve (deprive of food)
Derivation:
feeder (a machine that automatically provides a supply of some material)
feeding (the act of supplying food and nourishment)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Take in food; used of animals only
Example:
What do whales eat?
Synonyms:
eat; feed
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
Hypernyms (to "feed" is one way to...):
consume; have; ingest; take; take in (serve oneself to, or consume regularly)
Verb group:
eat (take in solid food)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "feed"):
browse; crop; graze; pasture; range (feed as in a meadow or pasture)
suckle (suck milk from the mother's breasts)
raven (feed greedily)
forage (wander and feed)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Sentence example:
The animals feed
Derivation:
feed (food for domestic livestock)
feeder (someone who consumes food for nourishment)
feeding (the act of consuming food)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Serve as food for; be the food for
Example:
This dish feeds six
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
Hypernyms (to "feed" is one way to...):
cater; ply; provide; supply (give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Derivation:
feed (food for domestic livestock)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Feed into; supply
Example:
Her success feeds her vanity
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
Hypernyms (to "feed" is one way to...):
furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Derivation:
feeder (a branch that flows into the main stream)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Provide as food
Example:
Feed the guests the nuts
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
Hypernyms (to "feed" is one way to...):
cater; ply; provide; supply (give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Sentence example:
They feed the animals
Derivation:
feeding (the act of supplying food and nourishment)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Gratify
Example:
feed one's eyes on a gorgeous view
Synonyms:
feast; feed
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
Hypernyms (to "feed" is one way to...):
regale; treat (provide with choice or abundant food or drink)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s something PP
Sense 9
Meaning:
Profit from in an exploitatory manner
Example:
He feeds on her insecurity
Synonyms:
feed; prey
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
Hypernyms (to "feed" is one way to...):
exploit; work (use or manipulate to one's advantage)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sense 10
Meaning:
Move along, of liquids
Example:
the Missouri feeds into the Mississippi
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "feed" is one way to...):
move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "feed"):
gutter (flow in small streams)
ooze; seep (pass gradually or leak through or as if through small openings)
drain; run out (flow off gradually)
dribble; filter; trickle (run or flow slowly, as in drops or in an unsteady stream)
stream; well out (flow freely and abundantly)
run out; spill (flow, run or fall out and become lost)
pour (flow in a spurt)
run down (move downward)
run off; waste (run off as waste)
eddy; purl; swirl; whirl; whirlpool (flow in a circular current, of liquids)
circulate (move through a space, circuit or system, returning to the starting point)
surge; tide (rise or move forward)
gush; jet (issue in a jet; come out in a jet; stream or spring forth)
flush (flow freely)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Sense 11
Meaning:
Support or promote
Example:
His admiration fed her vanity
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "feed" is one way to...):
advance; boost; encourage; further; promote (contribute to the progress or growth of)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Context examples:
For that matter, high-strung and finely sensitive, the ill treatment had flung him into a fever, which was fed by the inflammation of his parched and swollen throat and tongue.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
"Most corn is used for animal feed, but it lacks methionine — a key amino acid — and we found an effective way to add it."
(US Researchers Genetically Modify Corn to Boost Nutritional Value, VOA News)
In previous studies, scientists fed bees with RNA fragments that included a segment of an RNA virus.
(Discovery of RNA transfer through royal jelly could aid development of honey bee vaccines, University of Cambridge)
We feed him once a day, and not too much then, so that he is always as keen as mustard.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The offshore reefs provide habitat and feeding grounds for large numbers of fish, including top predators such as sharks and groupers.
(Microbes reflect the health of coral reefs, National Science Foundation)
Its three major tributary glaciers are fed by their own tributaries farther inland.
(Antarctica’s Larsen B Ice Shelf Nearing Its Final Act, NASA)
“If adults retain this ability, it would help them with migration between feeding and spawning areas.”
(North Atlantic haddock use magnetic compass to guide them, National Science Foundation)
A process that synthesizes a material of interest using a continuously fed cell culture.
(Perfusion Culture Biosynthesis, NCI Thesaurus)
“Who feeds you?” was his next question.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
It may involve simple changes in a person's diet, or intravenous or tube feeding.
(Nutritional Therapy, NCI Dictionary)
