What does "feed" mean?
Food given to (especially herbivorous) non-human animals.
Feed
/ˈfiːd/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Food given to (especially herbivorous) non-human animals.
- Grammar: feed is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abet, aid and abet, allay, animal feed.
- Useful contrasts: malnourished, delete, deprive.
- Usage evidence: I feed my cat every morning and every evening.
How to use "feed"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "feed" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "feed" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "feed" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "feed" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "feed" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abet" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "feed", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Food given to (especially herbivorous) non-human animals. uncountable
"They sell feed, riding helmets, and everything else for horses."
- 2 food for domestic livestock wordnet
- 3 Something supplied continuously. countable, uncountable
"a satellite feed"
- 4 The part of a machine that supplies the material to be operated upon. countable, uncountable
"the paper feed of a printer"
- 5 The forward motion of the material fed into a machine. countable, uncountable
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 A meal. Australia, New-Zealand, UK, colloquial, countable
"184?, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor One proposed going to Hungerford-market to do a feed on decayed shrimps or other offal laying about the market; another proposed going to Covent-garden to do a 'tightener' of rotten oranges, to which I was humorously invited; […]"
- 7 A gathering to eat, especially in large quantities. countable
"They held a crab feed on the beach."
- 8 online content presented sequentially:; antichronological sequence of posts or articles from a single source, especially as consumable on a platform other as originally published. Internet, countable, uncountable
"I've subscribed to the feeds of my favourite blogs, so I can find out when new posts are added without having to visit those sites."
- 9 online content presented sequentially:; content intended for consumption by scrolling or swiping, especially as a home page and from multiple publishers followed or algorithmically curated Internet, countable, often, uncountable
"Refresh the top of your various “feeds” — the running column of content on some versions of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — and you will see the latest news at the top. The further back you scroll, the older the material gets."
- 10 A straight man who delivers lines to the comedian during a performance. countable, uncountable
"Don Ward is often described as a former comic, having some experience in this area as a young man, acting as a feed for the comic actor David Lodge at Parkins Holiday Camp in Jersey […]"
Verb
- 1 To give (someone or something) food to eat. transitive
"Feed the dog every evening."
- 2 simple past and past participle of fee form-of, participle, past
- 3 introduce continuously wordnet
- 4 To eat (usually of animals). intransitive
"Spiders feed on gnats and flies."
- 5 provide with fertilizers or add nutrients to wordnet
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 To give (someone or something) to (someone or something else) as food. ditransitive
"Don't feed him too much; he's still a baby."
- 7 give food to wordnet
- 8 To give to a machine to be processed. transitive
"Feed the paper gently into the document shredder."
- 9 take in food; used of animals only wordnet
- 10 To supply (a machine) with something to be processed. transitive
"We got interesting results after feeding the computer with the new data."
- 11 serve as food for; be the food for wordnet
- 12 To satisfy, gratify, or minister to (a sense, taste, desire, etc.). figuratively, transitive
"If I can catch him once upon the hip, / I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him."
- 13 feed into; supply wordnet
- 14 To supply with something. transitive
"Springs feed ponds with water."
- 15 provide as food wordnet
- 16 To graze; to cause to be cropped by feeding, as herbage by cattle. transitive
"If grain is too forward in autumn, feed it with sheep."
- 17 gratify wordnet
- 18 To pass to. transitive
"Morrison then played a pivotal role in West Brom's equaliser, powering through the middle and feeding Tchoyi, whose low, teasing right-wing cross was poked in by Thomas at the far post"
- 19 profit from in an exploitatory manner wordnet
- 20 To create the environment where another phonological rule can apply; to be applied before (another rule). transitive
"Nasalization feeds raising."
- 21 move along, of liquids wordnet
- 22 To create the syntactic environment in which another syntactic rule is applied; to be applied before (another syntactic rule). transitive
"This orthodox analysis […] leads to the conclusion that […] Subject–Auxiliary Inversion (SAI) is fed by the contraction operation."
- 23 support or promote wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"I feed my cat every morning and every evening."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "feed"?
Common synonyms include: abet, aid and abet, allay, animal feed, animal food, appease.
How do you use "feed" in a sentence?
I feed my cat every morning and every evening.
How do you pronounce "feed"?
Pronounced /ˈfiːd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English feden, from Old English fēdan (“to feed”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōdijan, from Proto-Germanic *fōdijaną (“to feed”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to guard, graze, feed”). Cognate with West Frisian fiede (“to nourish, feed”), Dutch voeden (“to feed”), Danish føde (“to bring forth, feed”), Swedish föda (“to bring forth, feed”), Icelandic fæða (“to feed”), and more distantly with Latin pāscō (“feed, nourish”, verb) through Indo-European. More at food, fodder.
Etymology 2
From Middle English fede, fed, from the verb (see above). Alternatively, perhaps from Old Norse fœða (“nourishment, food”), from Proto-Germanic *fōdijaną (“to feed”), whence also Old English fēdan (“to feed”).
Etymology 3
From fee + -ed.