feed
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Take in food.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
feedIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfid
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Take in food; used of animals only
transitive
To give (someone or something) food to eat.
“Feed the starving children in India.”
ditransitive
To give (someone or something) to (someone or something else) as food.
Serve as food for; be the food for
intransitive
To eat (usually of animals).
Provide as food
noun
uncountable
Food given to (especially herbivorous) non-human animals.
Something supplied continuously.
The part of a machine that supplies the material to be operated upon.
The forward motion of the material fed into a machine.
countable
A gathering to eat, especially in large quantities.
Food for domestic livestock
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To give (someone or something) food to eat.
Used this way, feed is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Feed the starving children in India.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- 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 feed
- “Feed the starving children in India.”verb
- “Feed carrots into a food processor.”verb
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The act of consuming food.
An animal being fattened or suitable for fattening.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Be sustained by.
Introduce continuously.
Grain grown for cattle feed.
A branching path off of a main transportation line (especially an airline).
A long trough for feeding cattle.
A vessel fitted with a flexible teat and filled with milk or formula.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A circuit that feeds back some of the output to the input of a system.
A circuit that feeds back some of the output to the input of a system.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: food given to (especially herbivorous) non-human animals
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Keep learning “feed” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.
- Practice sentence writingWrite sentences with vocabulary and get instant feedback.
- Practice in contextAnswer short vocabulary questions drawn from real situations.
- Review vocabularyTest your recall and strengthen words over time.
- Practice typingType vocabulary in short rounds that draw from words you've learned and saved.
Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.
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.