feather
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɛð.ə(ɹ)/
ipa: /ˈfɛð.ɚ/
rhymes: -ɛðə(ɹ)
Forms: form: feathers
form: feathering
form: feathered
form: feathered
form: fether
Etymology: From Middle English feþer, from Old English feþer, from Proto-West Germanic *feþru, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ (“feather, wing”), from *peth₂- (“to fly”).
Cognate with West Frisian fear (“feather”), Cimbrian bèdara, fòdara (“pillowcase”), vèdara (“feather”), Dutch veder, veer (“feather”), German Feder (“feather”), German Low German Fedder (“feather”), Luxembourgish Fieder (“feather”), Vilamovian faoder (“feather”), Yiddish פֿעדער (feder, “feather”), Danish fjeder, fjer (“feather”), Faroese fjøður (“feather”), Icelandic fjöður (“feather”), Norwegian Bokmål fjær, fjør (“feather”), Norwegian Nynorsk fjøder, fjør (“feather”), Swedish fjäder (“feather”). Also Ancient Greek πέτομαι (pétomai, “to fly”), Albanian shpend (“bird”), Latin penna (“feather”), Old Armenian թիռ (tʻiṙ, “flight”).
The sense correlated with splines and keys (sense 4) probably reflects analogy with the fletching sense (sense 3).
Senses: examples: text: An Eagle had the ill Hap to be Struck with an Arrow Feather'd from her own Wing.
ref: 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:
text: 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, […]
ref: 1912, Frances, Object-lessons on Temperance, Or, The Indian Maiden and Her White Deer, page 117:
text: 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 […]
ref: 2007, Thomas Perry, Vanishing Act, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 302:
glosses: To cover or furnish with feathers; (when of an arrow) to fletch.
examples: text: A few birches and oaks still feathered the narrow ravines, or occupied in dwarf clusters the hollow plains of the moor.
ref: 1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume II (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 28:
glosses: To adorn, as if with feathers; to fringe.
examples: text: The stylist feathered my hair.
glosses: To arrange in the manner or appearance of feathers.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
rowing
sports
glosses: To rotate the oars while they are out of the water to reduce wind resistance.
examples: text: After striking the bird, the pilot feathered the damaged left engine’s propeller.
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: 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.
topics: business
carpentry
construction
engineering
manufacturing
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: To finely shave or bevel an edge.
topics: computer-graphics
computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To intergrade or blend the pixels of an image with those of a background or neighboring image.
examples: text: Whether or not the ink feathers depends upon the paper or card, and also upon the nature of the dye in the ink.
ref: 1940, Circular of the Bureau of Standards, numbers 426-451, page 50:
glosses: Of written or printed ink: to take on a blurry appearance as a result of spreading through the receiving medium.
examples: c. 1650, Robert Loveday, letter to Mr. C.
The Polonian story, which perhaps may feather some tedious hours.
glosses: To render light as a feather; to give wings to.
examples: text: They stuck not to say that the king cared not to plume his nobility and people to feather himself.
ref: 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC:
glosses: To enrich; to exalt; to benefit.
examples: text: Ardent in love[…]He feather'd her a hundred times a day.
ref: 1700, [John] Dryden, “The Cock and the Fox: Or, The Tale of the Nun’s Priest, from Chaucer”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
glosses: To tread, as a cockerel.
topics: ball-games
billiards
games
hobbies
lifestyle
snooker
sports
glosses: To move the cue back and forth along the bridge in preparation for striking the cue ball.
topics: ball-games
billiards
games
hobbies
lifestyle
snooker
sports
glosses: To accidentally touch the cue ball with the tip of the cue when taking aim.
examples: text: His breath feathered her lips; her spine, her legs weakened, went soft at the wafting warmth.
ref: 2001, Joan Hohl, Maybe Tomorrow, Zebra Books, →ISBN, page 186:
text: 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.
ref: 2006, Gary Parker, Her Daddy's Eyes, Baker Books, →ISBN, page 143:
glosses: To touch lightly, like (or as if with) a feather.
examples: text: She feathered her fingers through Mitchell's hair. “Besides, I like you a whole lot better than Frye.”
ref: 2005, Radclyffe, Justice Served, Bold Strokes Books Inc
text: “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.
ref: 2011, L.L. Raand, Blood Hunt, Bold Strokes Books Inc, →ISBN:
glosses: To move softly, like a feather.
Derived terms: feathered
feather one's nest
feather one's own nest
tar and feather