feather — English Dictionary

Noun

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

   Examples

   Notice, too, that the shaft is not straight, but bent so that the upper surface of the feather is convex, and the lower concave.

   More examples (1)

   Big fellows they were, all of them, their barbaric headdresses and grotesquely painted faces, together with their many metal ornaments and gorgeously coloured feathers, adding to their wild, fierce appearance.

   Nesting birds pluck some of their own feathers to line the nest, but feather plucking in pet birds is entirely different.

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.

   Synonyms

   feathersfeatheringhorsefeathers

   Antonyms

   spats

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

4. 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.

   Synonyms

   spline

   Examples

   Near-synonym: spline

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

   Examples

   I am not of that feather to shake off / My friend when he must need me.

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.

7. The angular adjustment of an oar or paddle-wheel float, with reference to a horizontal axis, as it leaves or enters the water.

8. Anything petty or trifling; a whit or jot.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   To some pew purchasers he gave deeds, to others he gave, none, but both were promised security, and both it seems were equally secure, for the pew deed as Mr. Melledge declared to Mr. G. was not worth a feather.

9. Partridges and pheasants, as opposed to rabbits and hares (called fur).

   Usage

   • in-plural

10. A junction indicator attached to a colour-light signal at an angle, which lights up, typically with four white lights in a row, when a diverging route is set up.

    Examples

    Signal M123 is a conventional 3-aspect colour light with three Junction Indicators - commonly known as 'feathers'.

11. A faint edge.

Verb

1. To cover or furnish with feathers; (when of an arrow) to fletch.

   Examples

   An Eagle had the ill Hap to be Struck with an Arrow Feather'd from her own Wing.

   More examples (2)

   Olondaw had taught Hazeleye how to use her bow and arrows, and that each might know the result of his or her own shooting, he had feathered her arrow with white and his own with red. How strange are the events of this life, […]

   She feathered her arrows in the Seneca fashion, two lengths of feather tied on with a spiral twist, so they would spin in flight. The trick was to glue both sides in place with a little sticky pine sap so they would stay put while she tied them […]

2. To adorn, as if with feathers; to fringe.

   Examples

   A few birches and oaks still feathered the narrow ravines, or occupied in dwarf clusters the hollow plains of the moor.

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

   Examples

   The stylist feathered my hair.

4. To rotate the oars while they are out of the water to reduce wind resistance.

   Usage

   • Transitive or intransitive

5. To streamline the blades of an aircraft's propeller by rotating them perpendicular to the axis of the propeller when the engine is shut down so that the propeller does not windmill during flight.

   Examples

   After striking the bird, the pilot feathered the damaged left engine’s propeller.

6. To finely shave or bevel an edge.

7. To intergrade or blend the pixels of an image with those of a background or neighboring image.

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

   Usage

   • Intransitive

   Examples

   Whether or not the ink feathers depends upon the paper or card, and also upon the nature of the dye in the ink.

9. To render light as a feather; to give wings to.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   c. 1650, Robert Loveday, letter to Mr. C. The Polonian story, which perhaps may feather some tedious hours.

10. To enrich; to exalt; to benefit.

    Usage

    • Transitive

    Examples

    They stuck not to say that the king cared not to plume his nobility and people to feather himself.

11. To tread, as a cockerel.

    Usage

    • Transitive

    Examples

    Ardent in love[…]He feather'd her a hundred times a day.

12. To move the cue back and forth along the bridge in preparation for striking the cue ball.

13. To accidentally touch the cue ball with the tip of the cue when taking aim.

14. To touch lightly, like (or as if with) a feather.

    Usage

    • Transitive

    Examples

    His breath feathered her lips; her spine, her legs weakened, went soft at the wafting warmth.

    More examples (1)

    A soft breeze feathered her face and hair. The smell of honeysuckle blanketed the air. She concentrated on shutting out every sound except the whisper of her heart. Gradually the inner distractions became fewer.

15. To move softly, like a feather.

    Usage

    • Transitive

    Examples

    She feathered her fingers through Mitchell's hair. “Besides, I like you a whole lot better than Frye.”

    More examples (1)

    “Asking me not to breathe would be simpler,” Drake said. “If I could spare you what's coming—” “No.” Drake feathered her fingers through Sylvan's hair. “We fight together.” Sylvan nodded and relaxed in her embrace. Drake didn't fear death.

Noun

1. branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds

   Broader terms

   animal material

2. turning an oar parallel to the water between pulls

   Synonyms

   feathering

   Broader terms

   rotationrotary motion

Verb

1. join tongue and groove, in carpentry

   Broader terms

   joinconjoin

2. cover or fit with feathers

   Broader terms

   cover

3. turn the paddle; in canoeing

   Synonyms

   square

   Broader terms

   paddle

4. turn the oar, while rowing

   Synonyms

   square

   Broader terms

   row

5. grow feathers

   Synonyms

   fledge

   Broader terms

   growdevelopproducegetacquire

   Examples

   The young sparrows are fledging already