From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfeedfeed1 /fiːd/ ●●● S1 W2 verb (past tense and past participle fed /fed/) 1 give food [transitive] a) DFFOODto give food to a person or animal Have you fed the cat?feed yourself She was too weak to feed herself.feed something to somebody Several children were feeding bread to the ducks.feed somebody on/with something They were fed well on her mother’s home cooking. b) DFto provide enough food for a group of people groceries to feed a family of five The prison is required to feed and clothe the prisoners.2 plant [transitive]HBP to give a special substance to a plant, which helps it grow Feed the tomatoes once a week.feed something with something Feed houseplants with a liquid fertilizer.3 animal/baby [intransitive]HBEAT if a baby or an animal feeds, they eat Frogs generally feed at night. Let your baby feed as long as she wants.4 → well-fed/under-fed/poorly-fed5 computer [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to put information into a computer over a period of timefeed something into something Figures are fed into the computer, which then predicts the likely profit.6 supply something [transitive]PROVIDE to supply something, especially a liquid, gas, or electricity The public baths are fed by natural springs.feed something to something The sound is fed directly to the headphones.feed something with something Laura crouched by the fire, feeding it with dry sticks. 7 put something into something [transitive]PUT to put something into something else, especially gradually and through a small holefeed something into/through something A tube was fed down the patient’s throat into her stomach.feed something into something She fed her last two coins into the machine for a cup of coffee. Shelton fed the electricity meter.8 increase emotion [transitive]INCREASE IN ACTIVITY, FEELINGS ETC to increase the strength of an emotion, desire etc Her depression grew, fed by her bitter experiences.9 → feed an addiction/need etc10 information [transitive] to give someone information or ideas over a period timefeed somebody with something She feeds the media with stories, which is a way of getting free advertising.feed something to somebody US intelligence had been feeding false information to a KGB agent.11 sport [transitive] to throw or hit a ball to someone else on your team, especially so that they can make a pointfeed something to somebody He fed the ball to Jol, who scored.12 → feed lines/jokes to somebody13 → feed your face14 tv/radio [transitive] to send a television or radio programme somewhere so that it can be broadcast15 → feed somebody a line → breast-feed, force-feed, spoon-feed, → mouth to feed at mouth1(10) → feed back → feed into something → feed off something → feed on something → feed somebody up→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
feed• The bigger the fish the less often they feed.• You will be able to study them at length and note at what depth they are feeding.• Nor did any allergic reactions arise in those who ate the meat of animals who had been fed a gene-spliced soybean diet.• Give them time, and then feed back to them how you feel about the way they are behaving towards you day-to-day.• There has been a boom in tourism, fed by publicity about the movie filmed there.• Feed chrysanthemums with a house plant fertilizer.• Humpback whales come to the California coast to feed each summer.• Most new babies will want to feed every few hours.• The pigs were feeding from a trough in the middle of the yard.• Hospital officials said she is no longer able to feed herself.• Ismail's wages are hardly enough to feed his family.• His head buzzed and sang as if power was being fed into it.• The tube was fed into the patient's stomach.• Scavenging crabs move in to feed on dead tubeworms.• The horses were fed on hay and grain.• The larvae feed on the young shoots of water-lilies.• The catering service feeds over 600 employees every day.• This recipe feeds six.• How often do you have to feed the baby?• My sister feeds the cats when we are away.• Did you feed the dog?• He had fed them fish frames.feed something to somebody• She fed celebrity gossip to "People" magazine.• We fed the scraps to the pig.feed something with something• Blanca fed the fire with sticks she had brought in. feed something into something• The locations of the icebergs are fed into computer models.fed ... meter• When they fished me out I made a few phone calls, fed a few meters, hung round the pool halls.feedfeed2 noun 1 baby [countable] British EnglishDHB one of the times when you give milk to a small baby the two a.m. feed2 animal food [uncountable]HBA food for animals fish feed3 supply [countable]TPROVIDE a tube or piece of equipment which supplies a machine with something, especially fuel4 tv/radio/computer [countable, uncountable] when a television or radio signal, computer information etc is sent somewhere, or the connection that is used to do this a live satellite feed from the space station5 meal [countable] old-fashionedDF a big mealExamples from the Corpus
feed• Lois has gotten tired of the late night feedings.• As a 4-H rabbit grower for two years, he had often traded at the local hardware for hutch materials and feed.• A large part of our income goes on animal feed.• The corn will have to be rerouted to animal feed and ethanol production.• cattle feed• Just a extra feed of hay to mark the special day.• In recent public appearances, the speaker looks decidedly off his feed.• Her baby has its lunchtime feed, then goes to sleep.• a live satellite feed• A young baby needs small feeds at frequent intervals.• In a closed-circuit television feed from Washington, Democrats Rep.• And tonight, for the first time, the public were invited to watch the feed, and listen to a commentary.• They always thought it was feed time if the light went on and would scramble up expectantly and start pawing and whinnying.From Longman Business Dictionaryfeedfeed1 /fiːd/ verb (past tense and past participle fed /fed/) [intransitive, transitive] to pass to a later stage in a process or systemfeed into somethingThe data is fed into computers for analysis.Tax increases and spending curbs by state and local governments feed into the private sector.feed through somethingReductions in corporation tax, which are still feeding through the economy, will be worth £1 billion to industry in the next year.feed through into somethingGrowth across the portfolio was 7%, which feeds through into higher dividend income.→ See Verb tablefeedfeed2 noun1[countable] a way of supplying something that is needed for a particular process or activityTraders on each of the four markets will be able to view listings on the others via a common data feed.2[countable]TELECOMMUNICATIONS a television or radio signal, computer information etc is sent somewhere, or the connection that is used to do thisa live satellite feed from the White House3[uncountable]FARMING food for farm animalscattle feedOrigin feed1 Old English fedan; related to food 