# felt

Pronunciation: say "FELT" /fɛlt/

## Verb

1. Simple past and past participle of feel. — simple past and past participle of feel
   - Simple: Simple past and past participle of feel. Use this form for feeling that happened earlier.
   - _He felt a sharp pain in his side halfway through the race._
   - _We had felt uneasy about the deal from the very start._
5. To work wool or fur fibers into felt by matting and pressing them together so they cling and lock.
   - Simple: To press wool fibers together until they mat into a thick cloth.
   - _Crafters felt the wool by agitating it in warm water until the fibers lock together._
   - _The mill felts scraps of leftover fleece into sturdy mats._
7. To line or cover a surface with felt, or with a material resembling felt.
   - Simple: To cover something with felt or a soft, matted material.
   - _Crews felt the flat roof, then sealed every seam with bitumen._
   - _The upholsterer felted the chair frame before stretching the fabric over it._
8. To strip another player of every chip, knocking them out of the game.
   - Simple: To take all of another player's chips so they are out of the game.
   - _A single all-in hand can felt even the most careful player._
   - _He felted the chip leader with a runner-runner flush._

## Noun

2. A dense fabric made from wool or fur fibers matted and compressed together rather than spun or woven.
   - Simple: A thick cloth made by pressing and matting wool fibers together instead of weaving them.
   - _Craftsmen pressed the wet wool into felt using heat and steady pressure._
   - _The piano's hammers are tipped with dense felt to soften each note._
3. A pen with a soft, porous tip of pressed fibers that releases ink for writing or coloring; a felt-tip pen.
   - Simple: A pen with a soft fiber tip, used for writing and coloring.
   - _She grabbed a red felt and underlined the key dates on the calendar._
   - _The kids left their felts uncapped, so half of them dried out._
4. A hat shaped from felt, the matted wool fabric, typically with a brim and a creased crown.
   - Simple: A soft hat made from pressed wool material.
   - _The detective pulled his felt low over his eyes._
   - _A row of felts hung on hooks beside the door._

## Adjective

6. Experienced or perceived directly, especially as an inner sensation rather than an abstract idea.
   - Simple: Experienced or sensed in a real, personal way.
   - _The therapist asked her to describe the felt quality of the emotion._
   - _There was a strongly felt need for reform across the department._

## Noun

9. The skin or hide of an animal, often with the coat of fur still attached; a pelt. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The skin or hide of an animal.
   - _The tanner spread each felt across the frame to cure in the sun._
   - _Hunters bartered felts for salt and iron through the long winter._

## Origin

**Meanings 2–5, 7–9** — From Middle English felt, from Old English felt, from Proto-West Germanic *felt (compare Dutch vilt, German Filz, and French feutre). It traces back to Proto-Indo-European *pilto/*pilso 'felt', related to Latin pilleus and Ancient Greek pîlos, ultimately from the root *pel- 'to beat'.
**Meanings 1, 6** — From Old English fēled, corresponding to the verb feel plus the suffix -ed.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/felt (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).