What does "forage" mean?
Fodder for animals, especially cattle and horses.
Forage
/ˈfɒɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Fodder for animals, especially cattle and horses.
- Grammar: forage is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: appropriate, barley, beat, beat the bushes.
- Useful contrasts: hoarding, hunger, ignore.
- Usage evidence: Look, today was 'sea harvest' so let's go forage for edible plants tomorrow!
How to use "forage"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "forage" 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 "forage" 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 "forage" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "forage" 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 "forage" is acting as noun, verb 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 "appropriate" 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 "forage", 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 Fodder for animals, especially cattle and horses. countable, uncountable
"“The hermit was apparently somewhat moved to compassion by the anxiety as well as address which the stranger displayed in tending his horse; for, muttering something about provender left for the keeper's palfrey, he dragged out of a recess a bundle of forage, which he spread before the knight's charger."
- 2 the act of searching for food and provisions wordnet
- 3 An act or instance of foraging. countable, uncountable
"He [the lion] from forage will incline to play."
- 4 bulky food like grass or hay for browsing or grazing horses or cattle wordnet
- 5 The demand for fodder etc by an army from the local population. countable, obsolete, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To search for and gather food for animals, particularly cattle and horses.
"The message said that the party intended to hunt and forage through this region, for a month or two, afore it went back into the Canadas."
- 2 wander and feed wordnet
- 3 To rampage through, gathering and destroying as one goes.
"And your great-uncle's, Edward the Black Prince, / Who on the French ground play'd a tragedy, / Making defeat on the full power of France, / Whiles his most mighty father on a hill / Stood smiling to behold his lion's whelp / Forage in blood of French nobility."
- 4 collect or look around for (food) wordnet
- 5 To rummage.
"Using the blankets for a basket, we sent up the books, instruments, and clothes to swell our growing midden on the deck; and then Nares, going on hands and knees, began to forage underneath the bed."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 Of an animal: to seek out and eat food.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Look, today was 'sea harvest' so let's go forage for edible plants tomorrow!"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "forage"?
Common synonyms include: appropriate, barley, beat, beat the bushes, bird seed, blackberrying.
How do you use "forage" in a sentence?
Look, today was 'sea harvest' so let's go forage for edible plants tomorrow!
How do you pronounce "forage"?
Pronounced /ˈfɒɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/.
Etymology
From Middle English forage, from Old French fourage, forage, a derivative of fuerre (“fodder, straw”), from Frankish *fōdar (“fodder, sheath”), from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (“fodder, feed, sheath”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect, to feed”). Cognate with Old High German fuotar (German Futter (“fodder, feed”)), Old English fōdor, fōþer (“food, fodder, covering, case, basket”), Dutch voeder (“forage, food, feed”), Danish foder (“fodder, feed”), Icelandic fóðr (“fodder, sheath”). More at fodder, food.