feed

feed¹ W2S1 [fi:d] v past tense and past participle fed [fed]

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1¦(give food)¦

2¦(plant)¦

3¦(animal/baby)¦

4 well-fed/under-fed/poorly-fed

5¦(computer)¦

6¦(supply something)¦

7¦(put something into something)¦

8¦(increase emotion)¦

9 feed an addiction/need etc

10¦(information)¦

11¦(sport)¦

12 feed lines/jokes to somebody

13 feed your face

14¦(tv/radio)¦

15 feed somebody a line

Phrasal verbs

　feed back

　feed into something

　feed off something

　feed on something

　feed somebody up

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[: Old English; Origin: fedan; related to food]

1.) ¦(GIVE FOOD)¦ [T]

a) to give food to a person or animal

▪ Have you fed the cat?

feed yourself

▪ She was too weak to feed herself.

feed sth to sb

▪ Several children were feeding bread to the ducks.

feed sb on/with sth

▪ 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)¦ [T]

to give a special substance to a plant, which helps it grow

▪ Feed the tomatoes once a week.

feed sth with sth

▪ Feed houseplants with a liquid fertiliser.

3.) ¦(ANIMAL/BABY)¦

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)¦ [T always + adverb/preposition]

to put information into a computer over a period of time

feed sth into sth

▪ Figures are fed into the computer, which then predicts the likely profit.

6.) ¦(SUPPLY SOMETHING)¦ [T]

to supply something, especially a liquid, gas, or electricity

▪ The public baths are fed by natural springs.

feed sth to sth

▪ The sound is fed directly to the headphones.

feed sth with sth

▪ Laura crouched by the fire, feeding it with dry sticks.

7.) ¦(PUT SOMETHING INTO SOMETHING)¦ [T]

to put something into something else, especially gradually and through a small hole

feed sth into/through sth

▪ A tube was fed down the patient's throat into her stomach.

feed sth into sth

▪ She fed her last two coins into the machine for a cup of coffee.

▪ Shelton fed the electricity meter .

8.) ¦(INCREASE EMOTION)¦ [T]

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)¦ [T]

to give someone information or ideas over a period time

feed sb with sth

▪ She feeds the media with stories, which is a way of getting free advertising.

feed sth to sb

▪ US intelligence had been feeding false information to a KGB agent.

11.) ¦(SPORT)¦ [T]

to throw or hit a ball to someone else on your team, especially so that they can make a point

feed sth to sb

▪ Johnson fed the ball to Kyman, who scored.

12.) feed lines/jokes to sb

to say things to another performer so that they can make jokes

13.) feed your face [i]informal

to eat a lot of food

= ↑stuff yourself

14.) ¦(TV/RADIO)¦ [T]

to send a television or radio programme somewhere so that it can be broadcast

15.) feed sb 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 phr v

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 sth<=>back (to sb)

▪ 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 [feed into sth] phr v

to have an effect on something or help to make it happen

▪ The influence of Italian designer fashion feeds into sports fashion.

feed off [feed off sth] phr v

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 [feed on sth] phr v

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 up [feed sb up] phr v

to give someone a lot of food to make them more healthy

American Equivalent: fatten up

feed ²

feed² n

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1¦(baby)¦

2¦(animal food)¦

3¦(supply)¦

4¦(tv/radio/computer)¦

5¦(meal)¦

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1.) ¦(BABY)¦ BrE

one of the times when you give milk to a small baby

▪ the two a.m. feed

2.) ¦(ANIMAL FOOD)¦[U]

food for animals

▪ fish feed

3.) ¦(SUPPLY)¦

a tube or piece of equipment which supplies a machine with something, especially ↑fuel

4.) ¦(TV/RADIO/COMPUTER)¦ [U and C]

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)¦ old-fashioned a big meal