Feed

fēd, v.t. to give food to: to nourish: to furnish with nece ary material: to foster.— v.i. to take food: to nourish one's self by eating:— pr.p. feed′ing; pa.t. and pa.p. fed.— n. an allowance of provender, esp. to cattle: the motion forward of anything being fed to a machine: ( Milt. ) a meal: ( Shak. ) pasture land.— ns. Feed′er , he who feeds, or that which supplies: an eater: one who abets another: one who fattens cattle: ( obs. ) a parasite; Feed′-head , the cistern that supplies water to the boiler of a steam-engine; Feed′-heat′er , an apparatus for heating the water supplied to a steam-boiler; Feed′ing , act of eating: that which is eaten: pasture: the placing of the sheets of paper in position for a printing or ruling machine; Feed′ing-bott′le , a bottle for supplying liquid food to an infant; Feed′-pipe , a pipe for supplying a boiler or cistern with water; Feed′-pump , a force-pump for supplying a steam-engine boiler with water. [A.S. fédan , to feed.]