Feather

Notice, too, that the shaft is not straight, but bent so that the upper surface of the feather is convex, and the lower concave.

Big fellows they were, all of them, their barbaric headdresses and grotesquely painted faces, together with their many metal ornaments and gorgeously coloured feathers, adding to their wild, fierce appearance.

Nesting birds pluck some of their own feathers to line the nest, but feather plucking in pet birds is entirely different.

Near-synonym: spline

I am not of that feather to shake off / My friend when he must need me.

To some pew purchasers he gave deeds, to others he gave, none, but both were promised security, and both it seems were equally secure, for the pew deed as Mr. Melledge declared to Mr. G. was not worth a feather.

Signal M123 is a conventional 3-aspect colour light with three Junction Indicators - commonly known as 'feathers'.

An Eagle had the ill Hap to be Struck with an Arrow Feather'd from her own Wing.

Olondaw had taught Hazeleye how to use her bow and arrows, and that each might know the result of his or her own shooting, he had feathered her arrow with white and his own with red. How strange are the events of this life, […]

She feathered her arrows in the Seneca fashion, two lengths of feather tied on with a spiral twist, so they would spin in flight. The trick was to glue both sides in place with a little sticky pine sap so they would stay put while she tied them […]

A few birches and oaks still feathered the narrow ravines, or occupied in dwarf clusters the hollow plains of the moor.

The stylist feathered my hair.

After striking the bird, the pilot feathered the damaged left engine’s propeller.

Whether or not the ink feathers depends upon the paper or card, and also upon the nature of the dye in the ink.

c. 1650, Robert Loveday, letter to Mr. C. The Polonian story, which perhaps may feather some tedious hours.

They stuck not to say that the king cared not to plume his nobility and people to feather himself.

Ardent in love[…]He feather'd her a hundred times a day.

His breath feathered her lips; her spine, her legs weakened, went soft at the wafting warmth.

A soft breeze feathered her face and hair. The smell of honeysuckle blanketed the air. She concentrated on shutting out every sound except the whisper of her heart. Gradually the inner distractions became fewer.

She feathered her fingers through Mitchell's hair. “Besides, I like you a whole lot better than Frye.”

“Asking me not to breathe would be simpler,” Drake said. “If I could spare you what's coming—” “No.” Drake feathered her fingers through Sylvan's hair. “We fight together.” Sylvan nodded and relaxed in her embrace. Drake didn't fear death.