Feather

Feather
Feather Feath"er, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Feathered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Feathering.}] 1. To furnish with a feather or feathers, as an arrow or a cap. [1913 Webster]

An eagle had the ill hap to be struck with an arrow feathered from her own wing. --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster]

2. To adorn, as with feathers; to fringe. [1913 Webster]

A few birches and oaks still feathered the narrow ravines. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]

3. To render light as a feather; to give wings to.[R.] [1913 Webster]

The Polonian story perhaps may feather some tedious hours. --Loveday. [1913 Webster]

4. To enrich; to exalt; to benefit. [1913 Webster]

They stuck not to say that the king cared not to plume his nobility and people to feather himself. --Bacon. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

5. To tread, as a cock. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

{To feather one's nest}, to provide for one's self especially from property belonging to another, confided to one's care; -- an expression taken from the practice of birds which collect feathers for the lining of their nests.

{To feather an oar} (Naut), to turn it when it leaves the water so that the blade will be horizontal and offer the least resistance to air while reaching for another stroke.

{To tar and feather a person}, to smear him with tar and cover him with feathers, as a punishment or an indignity. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Feather — Feath er (f[e^][th] [ e]r), n. [OE. fether, AS. fe[eth]er; akin to D. veder, OHG. fedara, G. feder, Icel. fj[ o][eth]r, Sw. fj[ a]der, Dan. fj[ae]der, Gr. ptero n wing, feather, pe tesqai to fly, Skr. pattra wing, feather, pat to fly, and prob.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • feather — [feth′ər] n. [ME fether < OE; akin to Ger feder < IE base * pet , to fall, fly > Gr pteron, wing, piptein, L petere, to fall, Sans pátati, (he) flies] 1. Zool. any of the growths covering the body of a bird or making up a large part of… …   English World dictionary

  • feather — ► NOUN ▪ any of the flat appendages growing from a bird s skin, consisting of a partly hollow horny shaft fringed with vanes of barbs. ► VERB 1) rotate the blades of (a propeller) to lessen the air or water resistance. 2) (feathered) covered or… …   English terms dictionary

  • Feather — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Leonard Feather (1914–1994), britischer Jazzautor, musiker und produzent Lorraine Feather (* 1948), US amerikanische Jazzsängerin und Songwriterin Tiny Feather (1902–1975), US amerikanischer American… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Feather — Feath er, v. i. 1. To grow or form feathers; to become feathered; often with out; as, the birds are feathering out. [1913 Webster] 2. To curdle when poured into another liquid, and float about in little flakes or feathers; as, the cream feathers …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • feather — [n] tuft of bird; plumage calamus, crest, down, fin, fluff, fringe, penna, pinion, pinna, plume, plumule, pompon, quill, shaft, spike, wing; concept 399 …   New thesaurus

  • Feather — For other uses, see Feather (disambiguation). Feather variations Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex… …   Wikipedia

  • feather — featherless, adj. featherlessness, n. featherlike, adj. /fedh euhr/, n. 1. one of the horny structures forming the principal covering of birds, consisting typically of a hard, tubular portion attached to the body and tapering into a thinner,… …   Universalium

  • feather — /ˈfɛðə / (say fedhuh) noun 1. one of the epidermal appendages which together constitute the plumage of birds, being typically made up of a hard, tubelike portion (the quill) attached to the body of the bird, which passes into a thinner, stemlike… …  

  • feather — {{11}}feather (n.) O.E. feðer feather, in plural, wings, from P.Gmc. *fethro (Cf. O.S. fethara, O.N. fioþr, Swed. fjäder, M.Du. vedere, Du. veder, O.H.G. fedara, Ger. Feder), from PIE *petra , zero degree *ptera wing …   Etymology dictionary

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