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feather

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fehther

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈfɛðɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.

  2. Long hair on the lower legs of a dog or horse, especially a draft horse, notably the Clydesdale breed. Narrowly only the rear hair.

  3. Kind; nature; species (from the proverbial phrase "birds of a feather").

  4. One of the fins or wings on the shaft of an arrow.

  5. A longitudinal strip projecting from an object to strengthen it, or to enter a channel in another object and thereby prevent displacement sideways or rotationally but permit motion lengthwise.

  6. One of the two shims of the three-piece stone-splitting tool known as plug and feather or plug and feathers; the feathers are placed in a borehole and then a wedge is driven between them, causing the stone to split.

verb

  1. To arrange in the manner or appearance of feathers.

  2. intransitive

    Of written or printed ink: to take on a blurry appearance as a result of spreading through the receiving medium.

  3. transitive

    To enrich; to exalt; to benefit.

  4. transitive

    To tread, as a cockerel.

  5. Grow feathers

  6. Cover or fit with feathers

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.

Used this way, feather is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use feather

  • “A soft feather drifted down from the sky and landed on my hand.”

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: branching

plumeArchaicplumage

verb

Sense: to arrange in the manner or appearance of feathers

plumefledgeRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.