feather
/ˈfeðə/
Frequency: 3.69 in modern English
Meaning
noun
A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.
noun
Long hair on the lower legs of a dog or horse, especially a draft horse, notably the Clydesdale breed. Narrowly only the rear hair.
noun
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.
noun
Kind; nature; species (from the proverbial phrase "birds of a feather").
noun
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.
noun
The angular adjustment of an oar or paddle-wheel float, with reference to a horizontal axis, as it leaves or enters the water.
Example Sentences
- "Notice, too, that the shaft is not straight, but bent so that the upper surface of the feather is convex, and the lower concave."
- "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."
- "Near-synonym: spline"
- "I am not of that feather to shake off / My friend when he must need me."
- "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."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfeðə/
- British English: /ˈfɛðə/