to give food to; supply with nourishment

to feed a child.

to yield or serve as food for

This land has fed 10 generations.

to provide as food.

to furnish for consumption.

to satisfy; minister to; gratify

Poetry feeds the imagination.

to supply for maintenance or operation, as to a machine

to feed paper into a photocopier.

to provide with the necessary materials for development, maintenance, or operation

to feed a printing press with paper.

to use (land) as pasture.

Theater Informal .

to supply (an actor, esp. a comedian) with lines or action, the responses to which are expected to elicit laughter.

to provide cues to (an actor).

Chiefly British . to prompt

Stand in the wings and feed them their lines.

Radio and Television . to distribute (a local broadcast) via satellite or network.

(esp. of animals) to take food; eat

cows feeding in a meadow; to feed well.

to be nourished or gratified; subsist

to feed on grass; to feed on thoughts of revenge.

food, esp. for farm animals, as cattle, horses or chickens.

an allowance, portion, or supply of such food.

Informal . a meal, esp. a lavish one.

the act of feeding.

the act or process of feeding a furnace, machine, etc.

the material, or the amount of it, so fed or supplied.

a feeding mechanism.

Electricity . feeder ( def. 10 ) .

Theater Informal .

a line spoken by one actor, the response to which by another actor is expected to cause laughter.

an actor, esp. a straight man, who provides such lines.

a local television broadcast distributed by satellite or network to a much wider audience, esp. nationwide or international. ?

chain feed

to pass (work) successively into a machine in such a manner that each new piece is held in place by or connected to the one before.

off one's feed

Slang .

reluctant to eat; without appetite.

dejected; sad.

not well; ill.

verb

starve

noun

animal food , barley , corn , fodder , forage , grain , grass , grub , hay , meal , pasturage , provender , provisions , silage , straw , vittles , banquet , junket

verb

banquet , bolster , cater , cram , deliver , dine , dish out * , dispense , encourage , fatten , feast , fill , find , foster , fuel , furnish , give , gorge , hand , hand over , maintain , minister , nourish , nurse , nurture , provide , provision , regale , satisfy , stock , strengthen , stuff , supply , support , sustain , victual , wine and dine * , subsist , aggravate , bait , bran , eat , fodder , grass , grub , hay , indulge , meal , oats , replenish , satiate