Pa. t. and pa. pple. fed. Forms: Inf. 1–2 fédan, (1 Northumb. foedan), 2 feden, 3 south. veden, 2, 5 feyde, 3–4 feode, 3–6 fede, south. vede, 4–7 feede, 6 feade, 6– feed. Pa. t. 1 fédde, pa. pple. féded, fédd; pa. t. and pa. pple. 3–5 fedde, (3 feedd, fad), 4 south. vedde, 4–5 feed, 9 dial. feeded, 4– fed. [OE. fédan = OFris. fêda, OSax. fôdean (Du. voeden), OHG. fuotan (MHG. vüeten), ON. fǽða (Da. fȯde, Sw. fȯda), Goth. fôdjan:—OTeut. *fôðjan, f. *fôð-â- : see FOOD.]
1. trans. To give food to; to supply with food; to provide food for. Often followed by † of, on, with (a specified food).
c. 950. Lindisfarne Gospels, Matt. vi 26. Eower fæder se heofunlica foedeþ þa [heofun fuȝlas].
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. lxxx[i]. 1 b. He hi fedde mid fætre lynde hwæte.
c. 1175. Cott. Hom., 233. He us is … feder for he us fett.
c. 1205. Lay., 8944. He hine lette ueden … ær he him bi-uoren come.
1297. R. Glouc. (1724), 375. He … made yt al forest & lese, þe bestes vorto fede.
a. 1340. Cursor Mundi, 13372 (Trin.).
| Þe folke þat day feire was fed | |
| Of breed & flesshe soden & bred. |
c. 1450. Bk. Hawkyng, in Rel. Ant., I. 296. Fede your hawke and sey not geve here mete.
1592. Davies, Immort. Soul, XVI. i. (1714), 71. The Body’s Life with Meats and Air is fed.
1648. Sir E. Nicholas, in The Nicholas Papers (Camden), I. 115. Seeke for some allowance our of my owne to feede us and ours.
1714. Nelson, Life Bp. Bull, § 76. 437. About sixty necessitous People … were fed with Meat.
1756–7. trans. Keysler’s Trav. (1760), II. 205. Whilst Gregory here was feeding twelve indigent men at this table, an angel condescended to sit down and make the thirteenth.
1798. Webbe, in Owen, Wellesley’s Desp., 9. I doubt whether there are any well-grounded expectations that they could feed themselves.
1835. Ure, Philos. Manuf., 394. The Leeds people are better fed.
1842. A. Combe, Physiol. Digestion (ed. 4), 142. Dogs fed on oil or sugar … become diseased.
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 314. It was not yet the practice to feed cattle in this manner.
b. To suckle (young); in OE. also absol.
c. 950. Lindisfarne Gospels, Matt. xxiv. 19. Wæ uutedlice ðæm berendum & foedendum in ðæm daȝum.
a. 1330. Cursor M., 5639 (Cott.).
| Þis womman it vnder-fang, | |
| It [þe childe] fedd til it cuth spek and gang. |
1530. Palsgr., 547/1. This bytche fedeth her whelpes.
1821. R. Turner, Arts & Sc. (ed. 18), 170. Pelias … was fed by a mare, and became the most cruel of all men.
1888. Elworthy, W. Somerset Word-bk., Feed, to suckle.
c. To put food into the mouth of (e.g., a child, a sick person, a fowl).
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 152/2. Feede chyldryn wythe pappe mete, papo.
1611. Cotgr., Appasteler, to feed by hand, or with the hand; or, as a bird feeds her yong.
1638. Markham, Farewell to Husbandry, 162. The Bitter is ever best to be fed by the hand, because when you have fed him, you may tie his Beake together.
1748. W. Cadogan, Ess. Nursing, 19. A sucking Child should be fed … once with the Broth, and once with the Milk.
1872–4. L. Wright, Poultry, 79. The fowl when fed is … held with both hands under its breast.
1882. J. W. Anderson, Med. Nursing, iv. (1883), 73. A patient … will not have the feeding cup, and yet must be fed in some such way.
1893. H. D. Traill, Social England, I. Introd. 54. His meal might be served up to him on costly dishes, but he fed himself with his fingers.
Mod. He is so weak that he cannot feed himself.
d. To graze, pasture (cattle, sheep, etc.).
1382. Wyclif, Gen. xxxvii. 13. Thi britheren feden [1388 kepen, 1611 feed] sheep in Sichemys.
1757. Home, Douglas, II. i.
| My name is Norval; on the Grampian Hills | |
| My father feeds his flocks. |
e. Feed-the-dove. A Christmas game mentioned in Brand’s Pop. Antiq., I. 278.
2. fig. of 1. Const. as above.
a. simply; esp. in spiritual sense.
971. Blickl. Hom., 57. Seo saul, ȝif heo ne bið mid Godes worde feded.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 215. Eche heȝe dai [þe hodede sholde] fede mid godes worde þe hungrie soule.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 500. Þe soule is fedde wiþ charite.
1435. Misyn, Fire of Love, 58. Chosyn sawlis byrnuand in luffe with heuenly likynge is feed.
1579. Fulke, Heskins’ Parl., 274. It may well be into a spirituall meate, to feede vs into eternall life.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 767.
| Recruited into rage, he grinds his Teeth | |
| In his own Flesh, and feeds approaching Death. |
1882. E. P. Hood, The Kings of Laughter, in The Leisure Hour, XXXI. April, 225/1. Where expression may be freely indulged it does not seek vent in inuendoes and caricatures; it does not make subterfuges of words, and with a tremendous and fearful hand sketch shadowy pictures to the eye. The logic of satire has often been fed on fear.
b. To gratify, minister to the demands of a person’s vanity, desire of vengeance, or other passion; to sustain or comfort (a person) with (usually, fallacious) hopes. Cf. FOOD v. † To feed forth, up (earlier to food forth), to beguile, keep (one) quiet, with flattery, etc.; = AMUSE v. 4, 6.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 5428. She [Fortune] … fedith hym with glorie veyne.
1475. The Boke of Noblesse (1860), 53. The said maister by flatering and blandishing wordis meoved his clerkis to desport bethout the cite in the feeldis, and so fedde hem forthe withe sportis and plaies tille he had brought hem withyn the siege and power of Camillus.
1530. Palsgr., 547/1. You haue fedde me forthe with fayre wordes longe ynoughe.
1577. Northbrooke, Dicing (1843), 141. [He] … so continueth feeding himselfe with looking for the chaunge of the dice.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., IV. i. 64.
| Qu. Goe, goe, poore soule, I enuie not thy glory, | |
| To feed my humor, wish thy selfe no harme. |
1602. Marston, Antonio’s Rev., I. i. Wks. 1856, I. 76.
| To bed, to bed! | |
| This morne my vengeance shall be amply fed. |
1603. Knolles, Hist. Turks, 656. Craftily feeding him with the hope of libertie. Ibid. (1621), 114. Feeding him up with faire words.
1666. Temple, Lett. to Bp. of Munster, Wks. 1731, II. 15. He seems to feed himself and his Friend with the Hopes of a speedy Peace in all those Parts of Germany.
1726. Leoni, trans. Alberti’s Archit., I. 66 a. Others, feeding themselves with great hopes of times to come.
1856. Emerson, Eng. Traits, Wealth, Wks. (Bohn), II. 73. All that can feed the senses and passions … is in the open market.
c. in phrases, to feed one’s eyes, to feed one’s sight. Also, of the tongue, to feed the ear.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., II. vii. 4.
| And in his lappe a masse of coyne he told, | |
| And turned upside downe, to feede his eye | |
| And covetous desire with his huge threasury. |
1625. Bacon, Ess., Masques (Arb.) 539. The Alterations of Scenes, so it be quietly, and without Noise, are Things of great Beauty, and Pleasure: For they feed and relieue the Eye, before it be full of the same Obiect.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav. (1638), 159. I found few [monuments] to feed my eyes upon.
1641. J. Jackson, True Evang. T., I. 26. He fed his eyes by being a spectator of those wickednesses.
1738. Wesley, Hymns, ‘Who’s this, who like the Morning,’ ii.
| His Tongue the Ear with Musick feeds, | |
| And He in every Part exceeds. |
1813. Scott, Trierm., III. xix.
| For some short space the venturous knight | |
| With these high marvels fed his sight. |
† d. To feed with money: to bribe. Obs.
1567. J. Hawkyns, Let. Sir W. Cecil, in State P., Dom. Eliz. 44. 13. They were by the Merchaunts fedd soe plentefully with mony.
1580. North, Plutarch (1676), 190. Anytus was the first that fed the Judges with Money.
3. intr. (rarely † refl. in same sense). To take food; to eat. Of persons now only colloq. Const. as in 1.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VI. 19. Þe corn … þerof þe colver ofte schulde fede hym self.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, C viij a. She fedith on all maner of flesh.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 5b. The shale of the nut to be broken that he may fede of the cornell.
1556. Aurelio & Isab. (1608), N. Of hir delicate fleshe they [the Lions] fedde them.
1635. R. N., Camden’s Hist. Eliz., II. 130. As he fed hard at supper on sallats, he was taken (as some report) with an impostume of the lungs.
1703. Pope, Thebais, 695.
| Devouring dogs the helpless infant tore, | |
| Fed on his trembling limbs, and lapp’d the gore. |
1719. De Foe, Crusoe (1840), I. x. 173. It was a good while before they [kids] would feed.
1757. Chesterf., Lett., IV. cccxxii. 96. Go pretty often and feed with him.
1834. H. M’Murtrie, Cuvier’s The Animal Kingdom, 145. The ostrich feeds on grass.
1850. L. Hunt, Autobiog., II. xvii. 68. I did wrong at that time not to ‘feed better,’ as the phrase is.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., i. (1889), 8. No one feeds at the high table except the dons and the gentlemen-commoners, who are undergraduates in velvet caps and silk gowns.
b. transf. To feed on (a person): to live at his expense.
1733. Pope, Ess. Man, III. 61.
| All feed on one vain patron, and enjoy | |
| Th’ extensive blessing of his luxury. |
c. fig.
1540. Cranmer, Wks., I. 25. Many holy martyrs, either exiled or kept in prison, did daily feed of the food of Christ’s body.
1581. Sidney, Apol. Poetrie (Arb.), 20. Poetry … which in the noblest nations and languages that are knowne, hath been the first light-giuer to ignorance, and first Nurse, whose milk by little and little enabled them to feed afterwards of tougher knowledges.
1599. Warn. Faire Wom., II. 1380. The people’s ey=s have fed them with my sight.
1612. Rowlands, Knaue of Harts, 29.
| On others’ miseries and woes I feede, | |
| I never smile but at some wicked deede. |
1768. W. Gilpin, An Essay upon Prints, 10. The eye … may be pleased indeed by feeding on the parts separately.
1769. Sir W. Jones, Pal. Fortune, Poems (1777), 16.
| Grant me to feed on beauty’s rifled charms, | |
| And clasp a willing damsel in my arms. |
1827. Pollok, Course T., IX. Where Disappointment fed on ruined Hope.
1883. Standard, 20 July, 5/1. Cholera feeds upon impurities of every sort.
4. trans. To yield or produce food for; to be, or serve as, food for. lit. and fig.
a. 1300. Sarmun, li., in E. E. P. (1862), 6. Þe siȝte of god him sal fede.
1393. Gower, Conf., III. 26.
| Lo, such is the delicacie | |
| Of love, which min herte fedeth, | |
| Thus have I lacke of that me nedeth. |
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., I. (1586), 38 b. Fodder … very good to feede both cattel & Poultrye.
1669. J. Worlidge, Syst. Agric. (1681), 28. One Acre of this Grass will feed you as many Cows as six Acres of other common Grass.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 812.
| The Water-Snake, whom Fish and Paddocks fed, | |
| With staring Scales lies poyson’d in his Bed. |
1891. Farmer, Slang, II. To feed the fishes, to be drowned.
absol. 1665. Sir T. Herbert, Trav. (1677), 23. It is an old and vulgar opinion, that it feeds upon the air, which cannot be, seeing the air feeds not.
5. To supply with nourishment; to nourish, cause to grow, support, sustain.
a. 1000. Boeth. Metr., xxix. 70 (Gr.). Se … metod … fet eall þætte groweð wæstmas on weorolde.
a. 1300. Seven Sins, 33, in E. E. P. (1862), 19. Is fule bodi fede mid is siluir and is gold.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., IV. ix. (1495), 93. By the benefyce of blode al the lymmes of the body preuayle and be fedde.
1593. Shaks., The Rape of Lucrece, 1077.
| As from a mountaine spring that feeds a dale, | |
| Shal gush pure streams to purge my impure tale. |
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., II. 486.
| Be mindful when thou hast entomb’d the Shoot, | |
| With Store of Earth around to feed the Root. |
1719. Watts, Hymns, I. xlviii.
| But they forget the mighty God | |
| That feeds the strength of every Saint. |
1759. trans. Duhamel’s Husb., I. i. (1762), 3. The trees had been fed by other roots which shot out nearer the surface of the earth.
1784. Cowper, Task, III. 662. Some [flowers] clothe the soil that feeds them, far diffused.
1801. Southey, Thalaba, I. xxii.
| The Ethiop, keen of scent, | |
| Detects the ebony, | |
| That, deep-inearth’d, and hating light, | |
| A leafless tree and barren of all fruit, | |
| With darkness feeds its boughs of raven grain. |
1837. Disraeli, Venetia, I. ii. A rich valley, its green meads fed by a clear and rapid stream.
fig. 1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 114. Musicke feedeth that disposition of the Spirits which it findeth.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 132, The Republic, Introdution. Poetry feeds and waters the passions and desires, instead of withering and starving them.
† b. To nurture, bring up. Obs.
c. 1320. Sir Tristr., 287. Fiftene ȝere he gan him fede.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 622.
| Your-selfe, þat is sothely the semliest on lyue, | |
| And þe fresshist and fairest fed vpon erthe. |
6. To fill with food, to pamper; to fatten, make fleshy; occas. of the food. dial. To feed (full and) high, to feed up: to supply with rich and abundant food.
1552. Huloet, Feade fatte in a francke or penne, altilis. Feade full, saburratus.
1630. R. Johnson, Relations of the Most Famous Kingdoms, etc., 79. This choice [the Steere] is altogether exempted from labour, and fed up for food.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 319.
| When once he’s broken, feed him full and high: | |
| Indulge his Growth, and his gaunt sides supply. |
1788. W. Marshall, Yorksh., Gloss. ‘I mean to feed him’; I intend to fat him.
1823. J. Badcock, Dom. Amusem., 62. A small dog … not to be fed too high.
1877. N. W. Linc. Gloss., s.v. ‘He feeds five-an’-twenty steers every summer.’
1886. S. W. Linc. Gloss., s.v. Milk will feed anything quicker than water.
fig. 1596–1620 [see FAT a. 2 c].
1874. Motley, Barneveld, vii. 323. He remained in Paris,—feeding fat the grudge he bore to Barneveld.
b. To feed off: to fatten (an animal) for sale or slaughter.
1852. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., XIII. I. 224. The owner … feeds off a large number of sheep … annually. Ibid. (1854), XV. I. 112. The hoggets are … fed off before New Year.
c. fig. † With on adv.: To encourage the growth of (obs.). To feed into: to bring into by pampering. Also, (Theat. slang) To feed a part: to fill it out by the addition of details or incidents of minor importance.
1580. North, Plutarch (1676), 91. Publicola … was very diligent … to feed on further and encrease the same [sedition].
1843. Carlyle, Past & Pr. (1858), 95. For hereby are fostered, fed into gigantic bulk, all manner of Unwisdoms, poison-fruits.
1892. Pall Mall G., 22 Dec., 2/3. After this, endless complications all centreing on Mr. Penley—feeding the part would be the stage term.
† d. To give ‘body’ to (a liquor). Obs.
1667. Dryden, Wild Gallant, V. iii. Isa. A Wit should naturally be joyned to a Fortune; by the same reason your Vintners feed their hungry Wines.
1742. Lond. & Country Brew., I. (ed. 4), Pref. Receipts for feeding, fining, and preserving Malt-Liquors.
e. Tanning. To give ‘substance’ to. Also, intr. of the leather: To gain substance; to thicken.
1882. J. Paton, in Encycl. Brit., XIV. 389/2. The [kid] skins are … ‘fed’ with yolk of eggs and salt.
1884. Health Exhib. Catal., 38. The rest allows the leather to ‘feed.’
f. intr. To grow fat. dial.
1727. Bailey, vol. II., Feeding … growing in Flesh by eating.
1796. W. Marshall, Midland Counties, Gloss., Feed, to grow fat.
1877. N. W. Linc. Gloss., s.v. ‘I nivver seed onybody feed like ….
7. a. To keep (a reservoir, watercourse, etc.) supplied; to supply (a fire, etc.) with fuel.
1582. in W. H. Turner, Select. Rec. Oxford, 426. Water cowrses ... to feede youre pondes.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., III. ii. 266.
| I haue ingag’d my selfe to a deere friend, | |
| Ingag’d my friend to his meere enemie | |
| To feede my meanes. | |
| Ibid. (1611), Cymb., I. vi. 110. | |
| Base and illustrious as the smoakie light | |
| That’s fed with stinking Tallow. |
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 67.
| But torture without end | |
| Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed | |
| With ever-burning Sulphur unconsum’d. |
1705. Addison, Italy, 274. The warm Springs that feed the many Baths with which this Island is plentifully stock’d.
1758. The Elaboratory laid open, 8. This manner of feeding the fire will be found a very great convenience to those, who are accustomed to it.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., vi. The mob fed the fire with whatever they could find.
1869. E. A. Parkes, A Manual of Practical Hygiene (ed. 3), 319. Cisterns at the top of every barrack should feed the ablution rooms, and supply water for the urinals.
1875. Lyell, Princ. Geol., II. III. xlix. 608. Islands … large enough to feed small rivers.
1878. Bosw. Smith, Carthage, 428. They [cisterns] were fed not by rain water but by the aqueduct of which they formed the termination.
b. To supply (a machine, a workman) continuously with material to work upon. Also intr. of the material: To pass in (to a mill).
1669. J. Worlidge, Syst. Agric. (1681), 51. The Corn feeds not until you set the same [Engine] down again. Ibid., 52. In case you drive apace it feeds apace.
1707. Mortimer, Husb., 277. The breadth of the bottom of which [hopper] must be … near as long as the Rowlers, that it may not feed them too fast.
1808. J. Barlow, The Columbiad, II. 499.
| For she, the first in all Hesperia, fed | |
| The turning spindle with the twisting thread. |
1891. Farmer, Slang, II. To feed the Press, to send up copy slip by slip.
absol. 1676. Beal, in Phil. Trans., XI. 584. Two ordinary Labourers … (the one feeding, and the other grinding).
8. a. To cause to be eaten by cattle; to use (land) as pasture. Often with complementary adj. or adv. to feed bare, close, down, off.
a. 1651. Sir Richard Weston, in Hartlib’s Legacy (1655), 242. You may then feed the ground with Cattel all the Winter, as you do other ground. Ibid., 243. As it springs again, feed it with Cattel.
1652. Arnold Beati, in Hartlib’s Legacy (1655), 139. It is very easie, by mowing or feeding it [corn] down with Cattel, to prevent it.
1669. J. Worlidge, Syst. Agric. (1681), 23. As soon as you have fed it bare, then is it best to over-flow. Ibid., 28. The best Husbandry is to graze it, or feed it [grass] in Racks.
1707. Mortimer, Husb., 29. Take care to feed it [the grass] close before the Winter.
1807. R. Parkinson, Experienced Farmer, I. 409. If he cannot feed it [Buck-wheat] off with some cattle.
1850. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., XI. II. 430. The crop being well grown, it only remains to feed it well off.
b. To deal out (food) to animals.
1883. P. E. Gibbons, English Farmers, in Harper’s Mag., LXVI., April, 652/1. Mangel-wurzel is the principal root crop raised on the farm, and is fed to the cows in winter.
1893. K. D. Wiggin, Penelope’s English Experiences, in Atlantic Monthly, LXXI., Feb., 184/1. He has been feeding bread and butter to the dog.
c. transf. (Cf. 7.) To supply continuously (material to be consumed or operated upon). Also, To feed down: to bring (a tool) down, gradually as required.
1860. Piesse, Lab. Chem. Wonders, 82. Gold is fed into a vessel containing aqua regia.
1864. Webster, s.v. Drill-press, The tool B rotates and is fed down by hand or automatically.
1869. Eng. Mech., 19 March, 574/1. The wood is fed to the saw by means of a … roller.
1881. Knight, Dict. Mech., IV. 744/2. The string … is fed from a tin canister.
1883. H. Tuttle, A Vacation in Vermont, in Harper’s Mag., LXIII., Nov., 824/2. The cutting is the joint effect of the hard edge of the steel blade and the wet sand which is fed into the opening, and thus produces an incisive friction.
1884. W. H. Rideing, The Bank of England, in Harper’s Mag., LXVIII., May, 895/1. Here all the sovereigns and half-sovereigns are put into long brass tubes, which feed them to exquisitely adjusted scales.
† d. Stock-exchange. To deal out (stock) in portions. Obs.
1814. Stock Exchange Laid Open, 28. Feeding out stock to less dealers.
9. Of cattle: To eat, eat off, feed upon. Also, to feed down, off.
1725. Pope, Odyss., IV. 449.
| So with her young, amid the woodland shades, | |
| A tim’rous hind the lion’s court invades, | |
| Leaves in the fatal lair the tender fawns, | |
| Climbs the green cliff, or feeds the flow’ry lawns. |
1858. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., XIX. I. 206. The fifty-two cows had … more than they could feed down.
1883. Jefferies, Nature near London, 237. The sheep have fed it too close for a grip of the hand.
1891. West. Morn. News, 14 Sept. A crop of swedes … is again fed off by sheep.
b. To feed down: to eat off the food of.
1887. Pall Mall G., 20 Oct., 13/2. ‘Bunny’ … feeds down the sheep.
