feague
/fiːɡ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "FEAGUE, to feague a horse; to put ginger up a horse's fundament, to make him lively, and carry his tail well; it is said, a forfeit is incurred by any horse dealer's servant, who shall show a horse without first feagueing him, used figuratively for encouraging or spiriting one up."
- "Feague. To feague a horſe; to put ginger up a horſe's fundament, and formerly, as it is ſaid, a live eel, to make him lively, and carry his tail well: it is ſaid, a forfeit is incurred by any horſe dealer's ſervant, who ſhall ſhew a horſe without firſt feaguing him. Feague is uſed, figuratively, for encouraging or ſpiriting one up."
- "Run along to Hobson's Livery Stable and tell them I want a good fast horse, right? Something with a bit of fizz in its blood! Not some feagued-up old screw, and I know the difference! I want it here in half an hour! Off you go!"
- "“... One of those chaps over there said someone feagues his horse. What the hell’s ‘feague’?” / O’Reilly’s sides heaved. “Feague? You’d know it as a different expression, but it’s a trick unscrupulous horse dealers use to make a horse look better than it is. You can judge a horse’s spirit by the way it carries its tail.” / “That’s what he said.” / “So,” said O’Reilly, “just before the buyer comes to look at the beast, the dealer sticks a clove of ginger up its rectum. Feagues the poor creature.” / The thought made Barry wince."
- "Dol[l]. (aside). Oh, if I wist this old priest would not sticke to me, by Ioue, I would ingle this old seruing-man. / Harp[oole]. Oh you old mad colt! yfaith, Ile feak you! fil all the pots in the house there."
- "[T]here's one Count Sharnofsky, too, such another ambitious dry-chops, he hath not the grace to love good drink, and yet he hath the impudence to aim at the Crown. […] [H]e squints at it fearfully, and he hath an itch at the Princess too; (Landlord squints, and makes grim-faces,) but I hope the Cardinal will feage [footnote: "Whip" or "beat."] 'um all."
Etymology
From Dutch vegen (“to sweep, strike”), from Middle Dutch vēghen (“to cleanse”), from Old Dutch *fegōn (“to cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *faginōn, from Proto-Germanic *faginōną (“to decorate, make beautiful”), from Proto-Indo-European *pōḱ-, *pēḱ- (“to clean, to adorn”). Cognate with Danish feje (“to sweep”), German fegen (“to cleanse, scour, sweep”), Icelandic fægja (“to polish”), Swedish feja (“to sweep”). More at fay, fair, fake.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: vegen, vēghen, *fegōn, *faginōn, *faginōną, *pōḱ-
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /fiːɡ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Frequently Paired Words
feak
feek