feed

FEED/ˈfiːd/

Verbfeeds, feeding, fed

Noun pluralfeeds

21 meanings of feed

Practice

1
give food toverbtransitive
To give food to a person or animal, or to give a particular food to them as a meal.
Volunteers feed the shelter dogs every morning.
He was feeding the chickens when the storm rolled in.
UsageYou feed someone, or feed food to them: feed oats to the horses. The past is fed (not ~~incorrect: feeded~~).
Note
The oldest sense, and the one most of the family grows from: Old English fēdan goes back to an Indo-European root meaning "to guard, graze, feed," so tending and nourishing began as one idea. The King James Bible of 1611 uses it plainly: "If thine enemy hunger, feed him."
2
eat (animals)verbintransitive
To eat or take in food, especially as animals do.
Sharks often feed at dawn and dusk.
The cattle were feeding quietly in the meadow.
UsageUsually feed on a food: whales feed on krill. Said of people, it can sound animal-like.
Similareat, graze, forage
Note
Here the animal does the eating, and no object follows. Richard Jefferies watches an old mare feeding, and Richard Ellis's The Book of Sharks has the basking shark feeding as it swims.
3
give a supplyverbtransitive
To give, pass, or send something to a person or thing that receives or uses it, such as information to a reporter or water into a lake.
Melting snow feeds the river well into July.
Local farms feed the market with fresh produce every weekend.
UsageYou feed a place, or feed a supply to it: rivers feed the lake, feed power to the grid.
Similarsupply, provide
4
home screen postsnouncountable
Online content presented as a scrolling or swiping stream, often serving as a home page and drawing on the many publishers a user follows or on algorithmic curation.
Her feed mixes news headlines with posts from friends.
The app's redesigned feed now prioritizes short videos.
UsageUsually with a possessive: my feed, your news feed. You scroll through or refresh your feed.
Similartimeline, stream
Note
Mike Isaac described it in 2016 as "the running column of content" on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, newest at the top. Tommy Orange's There There (2018) shows its social side: "Tons of Native friends in my feed."
5
animal foodnoununcountable
Food given to animals, especially grazing livestock and other plant-eating species, rather than to humans.
The barn stores enough feed to last the winter.
Rising grain prices have pushed up the cost of cattle feed.
Similarfodder, forage
Note
The noun's origin is less certain than the verb's. Middle English fede may simply come from the verb, or it may come from Old Norse fœða, "nourishment," a cousin from the same Germanic root.
6
nouncountable or uncountable
A continuous supply of something, such as water, fuel, or data.
Reporters watched the live feed from the courtroom.
The greenhouse relies on a constant feed of nutrient solution.
UsageCommon in a live feed (video sent as it happens) and a feed of something: a steady feed of water.
Similarsupply, stream, flow
7
nouncountable
A sequence of posts or articles from a single source, usually arranged newest first, often read on a platform other than where they were originally published.
Subscribers follow the podcast's feed through an aggregator instead of visiting the site itself.
Each update appears in the feed moments after the source publishes it.
UsageYou subscribe to a feed: an RSS feed, a podcast feed.
Note
The syndication sense, seen from the publisher's side: usually one source's posts or articles, typically newest first, packaged so other platforms can display them. Readers subscribe to a blog's feed to learn of new posts without visiting the site. Formats such as RSS and Atom carry it, and an aggregator reads it. The mixed, scrolling stream is the social-media feed.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 7 facts
Syndicated feeds package web content for display elsewhere. rfc-editor.org
Newest-first ordering is common, but is not required: Atom explicitly assigns no significance to entry order. rfc-editor.org
Readers can subscribe to feeds and receive updates without visiting each original website. wordpress.com
RSS is a web content syndication format. rssboard.org
Atom is a web content syndication format. rfc-editor.org
Feed readers or aggregators interpret feeds. wordpress.com
A syndicated feed can aggregate entries from multiple source feeds. rfc-editor.org
8
put into machineverbtransitive
To supply a machine with the material it works on, or to put material into a machine to be processed.
At the recycling plant, two workers feed flattened cardboard into the baler while a third stacks the finished bales.
An automatic loader feeds the press with sheet metal.
UsageFeed material into a machine, or feed the machine with it: feed paper into the printer.
9
make strongerverbtransitive
To strengthen a feeling, belief, or trend or help keep it alive, especially a harmful one.
Rising rents continue to feed resentment among longtime residents.
Cheap credit fed a buying frenzy that ended in a crash.
UsageUsually something harmful is fed: feed fears, feed resentment, feed a buying frenzy.
Similarfuel, stoke, fan
Oppositedampen, quell
10
draw energyverbintransitivefigurative
To take strength, energy, or support from a source, with on or off after the verb.
Good actors feed on the energy of a live audience.
The campaign fed off growing anger over rising prices.
UsageWith on or off, the subject takes the strength: a campaign feeds on anger, but anger feeds a campaign.
Similarthrive, draw
11
verbfigurativelytransitive
To give a sense, taste, or desire what it wants so that it is satisfied, rather than to make it stronger.
Museums feed our curiosity about the past.
Tabloid coverage feeds the public's appetite for scandal.
UsageUsually a desire, interest, or habit is fed: feed his curiosity, feed an appetite, feed a habit.
Similarsatisfy, gratify, indulge
Note
What gets satisfied here is usually a desire, grudge, or appetite. In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Shylock vows to "feed fat the ancient grudge," gratifying his resentment by taking revenge. In an older pattern, a person is the object: Richard Knolles in 1603 writes of "feeding him with the hope of liberty."
12
machine partnouncountable
The mechanism in a machine that delivers the material the machine is to work on.
The copier's automatic document feed handles fifty pages at a time.
A jam in the feed stopped the sawmill for an hour.
Similarfeeder
Note
The part rather than the process: the paper feed of a printer, the document feed of a copier. It usually sits in compounds like these, named after what passes through it. Keep it apart from the forward motion, which is how the material travels. A jam in the feed is a fault in the part, while uneven feed is a fault in the motion.

Less common meanings

13
pass (sports)verbtransitive
To pass the ball, puck, or similar object to a teammate, especially one in a position to score.
Our point guard likes to feed the big man down low whenever he gets good position near the basket.
Defenders who feed the ball forward too slowly invite pressure.
Similarpass
Note
A sports reporter's verb for the pass that sets a teammate up. The teammate can be the direct object. Kevin Darling's BBC report of West Brom against Blackburn in 2010 has Morrison "feeding Tchoyi" before the cross that made the equalizer. You can also feed the ball forward or feed it to someone. The word implies service: the feeder creates the chance, and someone else takes it.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The reporter's name was Kevin Darling. en.wikipedia.org
A 2010 BBC report of West Brom against Blackburn describes Morrison feeding Tchoyi before the cross that produced the equalizer. en.wiktionary.org
14
fertilizeverbtransitive
To supply plants, or the soil they grow in, with fertilizer or other nutrients that promote growth.
Many gardeners feed the soil with compost in the fall before spring planting.
She fed the orchids a diluted liquid fertilizer every two weeks.
Similarfertilize, nourish
15
community mealnouncountable
A gathering at which people eat, especially one involving large quantities of food.
The fire department holds an annual pancake feed to raise money.
Friends gathered at the lake house for a crab feed that lasted all afternoon.
UsageUsually after the food served: a pancake feed, a crab feed.
Similarfeast
16
mealnouncolloquialAustraliaNew ZealandUKcountable
A meal.
After the pub quiz, the whole team went out for a decent feed.
He fancied a proper feed of fish and chips on the seafront.
UsageUsually with an adjective: a good feed, a proper feed.
Similarmeal, nosh
Note
Casual speech in Britain, Australia and New Zealand uses it for a meal, and it belongs in friendly talk rather than formal writing. Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor (1851) records a plan to "do a feed," and the artilleryman in H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds (1898) predicts the end of "nice little feeds at restaurants." The noun comes from the verb, or perhaps from Old Norse fœða, "nourishment."
17
forward movementnouncountable or uncountable
The forward motion of the material being passed into or through a machine.
The machinist adjusted the feed to keep the cutting tool from overheating.
Uneven feed through the rollers left ripples across the sheet metal.
18
let animals grazeverbtransitive
To graze; to cause grass or other plants to be cropped by grazing animals; to use land for grazing.
Once in three years, or every other year, feed your mowing-lands.
1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry
If grain is too forward in autumn, feed it with sheep.
Similargraze, pasture
Note
A farmer's usage that flips the everyday grammar: the object is the grass or the field, and the animals are the means. John Mortimer's The Whole Art of Husbandry (1707) advises "feed your mowing-lands." Grain that is too forward in autumn is to be fed with sheep. Read it as grazing the land down, not as giving the land anything to eat.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
John Mortimer wrote The Whole Art of Husbandry, first published in 1707. rct.uk
Mortimer's book contains the advice quoted as “feed your mowing-lands.” en.wiktionary.org
19
straight mannouncountable
The straight man of a comic double act, who supplies the cues and setups for the comedian's punch lines.
In their double act, she played feed while her partner delivered the punch lines.
The comic's timing depended on the feed pausing at exactly the right moment.
Similarstooge, foil
Note
A stage term from comedy double acts: the feed supplies lines that set up the comic's jokes. A performer can act as a feed for someone. Oliver Double's Alternative Comedy (2020) describes Don Ward as a young man acting as a feed for David Lodge at a Jersey holiday camp. The name comes from feeding lines to a partner.
20
verb
In linguistics, of a rule: to apply before another rule and create the form or structure that lets that rule apply.
21
verb
Simple past and past participle of fee.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of feed apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–3, 8–11, 13–14, 18

From Middle English feden, from Old English fēdan ("to feed"), going back through Proto-Germanic *fōdijaną to a Proto-Indo-European root *peh₂- ("to guard, graze, feed"). It is related to Dutch voeden, Swedish föda, and Icelandic fæða, and more distantly to Latin pāscō ("to feed, nourish").

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

Feed derives from Middle English feden and Old English fēdan, meaning “to feed”. en.wiktionary.org
The Germanic ancestor is reconstructed as *fōdijaną. en.wiktionary.org
The ultimate ancestor is the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root *peh₂-, with meanings including guarding, grazing and feeding. en.wiktionary.org
Feed is cognate with Dutch voeden, Swedish föda and Icelandic fæða. en.wiktionary.org
Feed is more distantly related to Latin pāscō, meaning “feed, nourish”. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 4–7, 12, 15–17, 19

Middle English had fede, fed, formed from the verb (see above). Another possible source is Old Norse fœða ("nourishment, food"), going back to Proto-Germanic *fōdijaną, the root behind Old English fēdan as well.