Chapter V: Part 5

Feather alum (Min.), a hydrous sulphate of alumina, resulting from volcanic action, and from the decomposition of iron pyrites; -- called also halotrichite. Ure. -- Feather bed, a bed filled with feathers. -- Feather driver, one who prepares feathers by beating. -- Feather duster, a dusting brush of feathers. -- Feather flower, an artifical flower made of feathers, for ladies' headdresses, and other ornamental purposes. -- Feather grass (Bot.), a kind of grass (Stipa pennata) which has a long feathery awn rising from one of the chaffy scales which inclose the grain. -- Feather maker, one who makes plumes, etc., of feathers, real or artificial. -- Feather ore (Min.), a sulphide of antimony and lead, sometimes found in capillary forms and like a cobweb, but also massive. It is a variety of Jamesonite. -- Feather shot, or Feathered shot (Metal.), copper granulated by pouring into cold water. Raymond. -- Feather spray (Naut.), the spray thrown up, like pairs of feathers, by the cutwater of a fast-moving vessel. -- Feather star. (Zoˆl.) See Comatula. -- Feather weight. (Racing) (a) Scrupulously exact weight, so that a feather would turn the scale, when a jockey is weighed or weighted. (b) The lightest weight that can be put on the back of a horse in racing. Youatt. (c) In wrestling, boxing, etc., a term applied to the lightest of the classes into which contestants are divided; -- in contradistinction to light weight, middle weight, and heavy weight. -- A feather in the cap an honour, trophy, or mark of distinction. [Colloq.] -- To be in full feather, to be in full dress or in one's best clothes. [Collog.] -- To be in high feather, to be in high spirits. [Collog.] -- To cut a feather. (a) (Naut.) To make the water foam in moving; in allusion to the ripple which a ship throws off from her bows. (b) To make one's self conspicuous. [Colloq.] -- To show the white feather, to betray cowardice, -- a white feather in the tail of a cock being considered an indication that he is not of the true game breed.

Feath"er (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Feathered (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Feathering.] 1. To furnish with a feather or feathers, as an arrow or a cap.

An eagle had the ill hap to be struck with an arrow feathered from
her own wing.

L'Estrange.

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

A few birches and oaks still feathered the narrow ravines.

Sir W. Scott.

3. To render light as a feather; to give wings to.[R.]

The Polonian story perhaps may feather some tedious hours.

Loveday.

4. To enrich; to exalt; to benefit.

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

Bacon. Dryden.

5. To tread, as a cock. Dryden.

To feather one's nest, to provide for one's self especially from property belonging to another, confided to one's care; -- an expression taken from the practice of birds which collect feathers for the lining of their nests. -- To feather an oar (Naut), to turn it when it leaves the water so that the blade will be horizontal and offer the least resistance to air while reaching for another stroke. -- To tar and feather a person, to smear him with tar and cover him with feathers, as a punishment or an indignity.

Feath"er, v. i. 1. To grow or form feathers; to become feathered; -- often with out; as, the birds are feathering out.

2. To curdle when poured into another liquid, and float about in little flakes or "feathers;" as, the cream feathers. [Colloq.]

3. To turn to a horizontal plane; -- said of oars.

The feathering oar returns the gleam.

Tickell.

Stopping his sculls in the air to feather accurately.

Macmillan's Mag.

4. To have the appearance of a feather or of feathers; to be or to appear in feathery form.

A clump of ancient cedars feathering in evergreen beauty down to
the ground.

Warren.

The ripple feathering from her bows.

Tennyson.

Feath"er-brained` (?), a. Giddy; frivolous; feather-headed. [Colloq.]

Feath"ered (?), a. 1. Clothed, covered, or fitted with (or as with) feathers or wings; as, a feathered animal; a feathered arrow.

Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury.

Shak.

Nonsense feathered with soft and delicate phrases and pointed with
pathetic accent.

Dr. J. Scott.

2. Furnished with anything featherlike; ornamented; fringed; as, land feathered with trees.

3. (Zoˆl.) Having a fringe of feathers, as the legs of certian birds; or of hairs, as the legs of a setter dog.

4. (Her.) Having feathers; -- said of an arrow, when the feathers are of a tincture different from that of the shaft.

Feath"er-edge` (?), n. 1. (Zoˆl.) The thin, new growth around the edge of a shell, of an oyster.

2. Any thin, as on a board or a razor.

Feath"er-edged` (?), a. Having a feather-edge; also, having one edge thinner than the other, as a board; -- in the United States, said only of stuff one edge of which is made as thin as practicable.

Feath"er-few (?), n. (Bot.) Feverfew.

Feath"er-foil` (?), n. [Feather + foil a leaf.] (Bot.) An aquatic plant (Hottonia palustris), having finely divided leaves.

Feath"er-head` (?), n. A frivolous or featherbrained person. [Colloq.] H. James.

Feath"er-head`ed (?), a. Giddy; frivolous; foolish. [Colloq.] G. Eliot.

Feath"er-heeled` (?), a. Light- heeled; gay; frisky; frolicsome. [Colloq.]

Feath"er*i*ness (?), n. The state or condition of being feathery.

Feath"er*ing, n. 1. (Arch.) Same as Foliation.

2. The act of turning the blade of the oar, as it rises from the water in rowing, from a vertical to a horizontal position. See To feather an oar, under Feather, v. t.

3. A covering of feathers.

Feathering float (Naut.), the float or paddle of a feathering wheel. -- Feathering screw (Naut.), a screw propeller, of which the blades may be turned so as to move edgewise through the water when the vessel is moving under sail alone. -- Feathering wheel (Naut.), a paddle wheel whose floats turn automatically so as to dip about perpendicularly into the water and leave in it the same way, avoiding beating on the water in the descent and lifting water in the ascent.

Feath"er*less, a. Destitute of feathers.

Feath"er*ly, a. Like feathers. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

Feath"er-pat"ed (?), a. Feather- headed; frivolous. [Colloq.] Sir W. Scott.

Feath"er-veined` (?), a. (Bot.) Having the veins (of a leaf) diverging from the two sides of a midrib.

Feath"er*y (?), a. Pertaining to, or resembling, feathers; covered with, or as with, feathers; as, feathery spray or snow. Milton.

Ye feathery people of mid air.

Barry Cornwall.

Feat"ly (?), adv. [From Feat, a.] Neatly; dexterously; nimbly. [Archaic]

Foot featly here and there.

Shak.

Feat"ness, n. Skill; adroitness. [Archaic] Johnson.

Fea"ture (?; 135), n. [OE. feture form, shape, feature, OF. faiture fashion, make, fr. L. factura a making, formation, fr. facere, factum, to make. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Facture.] 1. The make, form, or outward appearance of a person; the whole turn or style of the body; esp., good appearance.

What needeth it his feature to descrive?

Chaucer.

Cheated of feature by dissembling nature.

Shak.

2. The make, cast, or appearance of the human face, and especially of any single part of the face; a lineament. (pl.) The face, the countenance.

It is for homely features to keep home.

Milton.

3. The cast or structure of anything, or of any part of a thing, as of a landscape, a picture, a treaty, or an essay; any marked peculiarity or characteristic; as, one of the features of the landscape.

And to her service bind each living creature Through secret
understanding of their feature.

Spenser.

4. A form; a shape. [R.]

So scented the grim feature, and upturned His nostril wide into the
murky air.

Milton.

Fea"tured (?; 135), a. 1. Shaped; fashioned.

How noble, young, how rarely featured!

Shak.

2. Having features; formed into features.

The well-stained canvas or the featured stone.

Young.

Fea"ture*less (?; 135), a. Having no distinct or distinctive features.

Fea"ture*ly, a. Having features; showing marked peculiarities; handsome. [R.]

Featurely warriors of Christian chivalry.

Coleridge.

Feaze (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Feazed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Feazing.] [Cf. OE. faseln to ravel, fr. AS. fÊs fringe; akin to G. fasen to separate fibers or threads, fasen, faser, thread, filament, OHG. faso.] To untwist; to unravel, as the end of a rope. Johnson.

Feaze, v. t. [See Feese.] To beat; to chastise; also, to humble; to harass; to worry. [Obs.] insworth.

Feaze, n. A state of anxious or fretful excitement; worry; vexation. [Obs.]

Feaz"ings (?), n. pl. [See Feaze, v. t.] (Naut.) The unlaid or ragged end of a rope. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Fe*bric"i*tate (?), v. i. [L. febricitare, fr. febris. See Febrile.] To have a fever. [Obs.] Bailey.

Fe*bric"u*lose` (?), a. [L. febriculosus.] Somewhat feverish. [Obs.] Johnson.

Feb`ri*fa"cient (?), a. [L. febris fever + faciens, p. pr. of facere to make.] Febrific. Dunglison.

-- n. That which causes fever. Beddoes.

Fe*brif"er*ous (?), a. [L. febris fever + -ferous.] Causing fever; as, a febriferous locality.

Fe*brif"ic (?), a. [L. febris fever + ficare (in comp.) to make. See fy-.] Producing fever. Dunglison.

Fe*brif"u*gal (? or ?), a. [See Febrifuge.] Having the quality of mitigating or curing fever. Boyle.

Feb"ri*fuge (?), n. [L. febris fever + fugare to put to flight, from fugere to flee: cf. F. fÈbrifuge. see Febrile, Feverfew.] (Med.) A medicine serving to mitigate or remove fever. -- a. Antifebrile.

Fe"brile (?; 277), a. [F. fÈbrile, from L. febris fever. See Fever.] Pertaining to fever; indicating fever, or derived from it; as, febrile symptoms; febrile action. Dunglison.

Feb"ru*a*ry (?), n. [L. Februarius, orig., the month of expiation, because on the fifteenth of this month the great feast of expiation and purification was held, fr. februa, pl., the Roman festival or purification; akin to februare to purify, expiate.] The second month in the year, said to have been introduced into the Roman calendar by Numa. In common years this month contains twenty-eight days; in the bissextile, or leap year, it has twenty-nine days.

Feb`ru*a"tion (?), n. [L. februatio. See february.] Purification; a sacrifice. [Obs.] Spenser.

Fe"cal (f"kal), a. [Cf. F. fÈcal. See Feces.] relating to, or containing, dregs, feces, or ordure; fÊcal.

Fec"che (?), v. t. To fetch. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Fe"ces (?), n. pl. dregs; sediment; excrement. See F∆ces.

<! p. 549 !>

Fe"cial (?), a. [L. fetialis belonging to the fetiales, the Roman priests who sanctioned treaties and demanded satisfaction from the enemy before a formal declaration of war.] Pertaining to heralds, declarations of war, and treaties of peace; as, fecial law. Kent.

Fe"ci*fork` (?), n. [Feces + fork.] (Zoˆl.) The anal fork on which the larvÊ of certain insects carry their fÊces.

Feck"less (?), a. [Perh. a corruption of effectless.] Spiritless; weak; worthless. [Scot]

feck"less*ness n. absence of merit. [WordNet 1.5]

Fecks (?), n. A corruption of the word faith. Shak.

Fec"u*la (?), n.; pl. Fecul∆ [L. faecula burnt tartar or salt of tartar, dim. of faex, faecis, sediment, dregs: cf. F. fÈcule.] Any pulverulent matter obtained from plants by simply breaking down the texture, washing with water, and subsidence. Especially: (a) The nutritious part of wheat; starch or farina; -- called also amylaceous fecula. (b) The green matter of plants; chlorophyll.

Fec"u*lence (?), n. [L. faeculentia dregs, filth: cf. F. fÈculence.] 1. The state or quality of being feculent; muddiness; foulness.

2. That which is feculent; sediment; lees; dregs.

Fec"u*len*cy (?), n. Feculence.

Fec"u*lent (?), a. [L. faeculentus, fr. faecula: cf. F. fÈculent. See Fecula.] Foul with extraneous or impure substances; abounding with sediment or excrementitious matter; muddy; thick; turbid.

Both his hands most filthy feculent.

Spenser.

Fec"und (?), a. [L. fecundus, from the root of fetus: cf. F. fÈcond. see Fetus.] Fruitful in children; prolific. Graunt.

Fec"un*date (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fecundated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fecundating (?).] [L. fecundare, fr. fecundus. See Fecund.] 1. To make fruitful or prolific. W. Montagu.

2. (Biol.) To render fruitful or prolific; to impregnate; as, in flowers the pollen fecundates the ovum through the stigma.

Fec`un*da"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. fÈcondation.] (Biol.) The act by which, either in animals or plants, material prepared by the generative organs the female organism is brought in contact with matter from the organs of the male, so that a new organism results; impregnation; fertilization.

Fe*cun"di*fy (?), v. t. [Fecund + -fy.] To make fruitful; to fecundate. Johnson.

Fe*cun"di*ty (?), n. [L. fecunditas: cf. F. fÈconditÈ. See Fecund.] 1. The quality or power of producing fruit; fruitfulness; especially (Biol.), the quality in female organisms of reproducing rapidly and in great numbers.

2. The power of germinating; as in seeds.

3. The power of bringing forth in abundance; fertility; richness of invention; as, the fecundity of God's creative power. Bentley.

Fed (?), imp. & p. p. of Feed.

Fed"a*ry (?), n. A feodary. [Obs.] Shak.

Fed"er*al (?), a. [L. foedus league, treaty, compact; akin to fides faith: cf. F. fÈdÈral. see Faith.] 1. Pertaining to a league or treaty; derived from an agreement or covenant between parties, especially between nations; constituted by a compact between parties, usually governments or their representatives.

The Romans compelled them, contrary to all federal right, . . . to
part with Sardinia.

Grew.

2. Specifically: (a) Composed of states or districts which retain only a subordinate and limited sovereignty, as the Union of the United States, or the Sonderbund of Switzerland. (b) Consisting or pertaining to such a government; as, the Federal Constitution; a Federal officer. (c) Friendly or devoted to such a government; as, the Federal party. see Federalist.

Federal Congress. See under Congress.

Fed"er*al, n. See Federalist.

Fed"er*al*ism (?), n. [Cf. F. fÈdÈralisme.] The principles of Federalists or of federal union.

Fed"er*al*ist, n. [Cf. F. fÈdÈraliste.] An advocate of confederation; specifically (Amer. Hist.), a friend of the Constitution of the United States at its formation and adoption; a member of the political party which favored the administration of president Washington.

Fed"er*al*ize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Federalized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Federalizing (?).] [Cf. F. fÈdÈraliser.] To unite in compact, as different States; to confederate for political purposes; to unite by or under the Federal Constitution. Barlow.

Fed"er*a*ry (?), n. [See Federal.] A partner; a confederate; an accomplice. [Obs.] hak.

Fed"er*ate (?), a. [L. foederatus, p. p. of foederare to establish by treaty or league, fr. foedus. See Federal.] United by compact, as sovereignties, states, or nations; joined in confederacy; leagued; confederate; as, federate nations.

Fed`er*a"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. fÈdÈration.] 1. The act of uniting in a league; confederation.

2. A league; a confederacy; a federal or confederated government. Burke.

Fed"er*a*tive (?), a. [Cf. F. fÈdÈratif.] Uniting in a league; forming a confederacy; federal. "A federative society." Burke.

Fed"i*ty (?), n. [L. foeditas, fr. foedus foul, filthy.] Turpitude; vileness. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.

Fee (f), n. [OE. fe, feh, feoh, cattle, property, money, fief, AS. feoh cattle, property, money; the senses of "property, money," arising from cattle being used in early times as a medium of exchange or payment, property chiefly consisting of cattle; akin to OS. fehu cattle, property, D. vee cattle, OHG. fihu, fehu, G. vieh, Icel. f cattle, property, money, Goth. faÌhu, L. pecus cattle, pecunia property, money, Skr. paÁu cattle, perh. orig., "a fastened or tethered animal," from a root signifying to bind, and perh. akin to E. fang, fair, a.; cf. OF. fie, flu, feu, fleu, fief, F. fief, from German, of the same origin. the sense fief is due to the French. &radic;249. Cf. Feud, Fief, Fellow, Pecuniary.] 1. property; possession; tenure. "Laden with rich fee." Spenser.

Once did she hold the gorgeous East in fee.

Wordsworth.

2. Reward or compensation for services rendered or to be rendered; especially, payment for professional services, of optional amount, or fixed by custom or laws; charge; pay; perquisite; as, the fees of lawyers and physicians; the fees of office; clerk's fees; sheriff's fees; marriage fees, etc.

To plead for love deserves more fee than hate.

Shak.

3. (Feud. Law) A right to the use of a superior's land, as a stipend for services to be performed; also, the land so held; a fief.

4. (Eng. Law) An estate of inheritance supposed to be held either mediately or immediately from the sovereign, and absolutely vested in the owner.

All the land in England, except the crown land, is of this kind. An absolute fee, or fee simple, is land which a man holds to himself and his heirs forever, who are called tenants in fee simple. In modern writers, by fee is usually meant fee simple. A limited fee may be a qualified or base fee, which ceases with the existence of certain conditions; or a conditional fee, or fee tail, which is limited to particular heirs. Blackstone.

5. (Amer. Law) An estate of inheritance belonging to the owner, and transmissible to his heirs, absolutely and simply, without condition attached to the tenure.

Fee estate (Eng. Law), land or tenements held in fee in consideration or some acknowledgment or service rendered to the lord. -- Fee farm (Law), land held of another in fee, in consideration of an annual rent, without homage, fealty, or any other service than that mentioned in the feoffment; an estate in fee simple, subject to a perpetual rent. Blackstone. -- Fee farm rent (Eng. Law), a perpetual rent reserved upon a conveyance in fee simple. -- Fee fund (Scot. Law), certain court dues out of which the clerks and other court officers are paid. -- Fee simple (Law), an absolute fee; a fee without conditions or limits.

Buy the fee simple of my life for an hour and a quarter.

Shak.

-- Fee tail (Law), an estate of inheritance, limited and restrained to some particular heirs. Burill.

Fee (f), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Feed (fd); p. pr. & vb. n. Feeing.] To reward for services performed, or to be performed; to recompense; to hire or keep in hire; hence, to bribe.

The patient . . . fees the doctor.

Dryden.

There's not a one of them but in his house I keep a servant feed.

Shak.

Fee"ble (f"b'l), a. [Compar. Feebler (-blr); superl. Feeblest (-blst).] [OE. feble, OF. feble, flebe, floibe, floible, foible, F. faible, L. flebilis to be wept over, lamentable, wretched, fr. flere to weep. Cf. Foible.] 1. Deficient in physical strength; weak; infirm; debilitated.

Carried all the feeble of them upon asses.

2 Chron. xxviii. 15.

2. Wanting force, vigor, or efficiency in action or expression; not full, loud, bright, strong, rapid, etc.; faint; as, a feeble color; feeble motion. "A lady's feeble voice." Shak.

Fee"ble, v. t. To make feble; to enfeeble. [Obs.]

Shall that victorious hand be feebled here?

Shak.

Fee"ble-mind"ed (?), a. Weak in intellectual power; wanting firmness or constancy; irresolute; vacillating; imbecile. "comfort the feeble-minded." 1 Thess. v. 14.

-- Fee"ble-mind"ed*ness, n.

Fee"ble*ness, n. The quality or condition of being feeble; debility; infirmity.

That shakes for age and feebleness.

Shak.

Fee"bly (?), adv. In a feeble manner.

The restored church . . . contended feebly, and with half a heart.

Macaulay.

Feed (fd), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fed (fd); p. pr. & vb. n. Feeding.] [AS. fdan, fr. fda food; akin to OS. fdian, OFries. fda, fda, D. voeden, OHG. fuottan, Icel. fÊa, Sw. fˆda, Dan. fˆde. &radic;75. See Food.] 1. To give food to; to supply with nourishment; to satisfy the physical huger of.

If thine enemy hunger, feed him.

Rom. xii. 20.

Unreasonable creatures feed their young.

Shak.

2. To satisfy; gratify or minister to, as any sense, talent, taste, or desire.

I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.

Shak.

Feeding him with the hope of liberty.

Knolles.

3. To fill the wants of; to supply with that which is used or wasted; as, springs feed ponds; the hopper feeds the mill; to feed a furnace with coal.

4. To nourish, in a general sense; to foster, strengthen, develop, and guard.

Thou shalt feed my people Israel.

2 Sam. v. 2.

Mightiest powers by deepest calms are fed.

B. Cornwall.

5. To graze; to cause to be cropped by feeding, as herbage by cattle; as, if grain is too forward in autumn, feed it with sheep.

Once in three years feed your mowing lands.

Mortimer.

6. To give for food, especially to animals; to furnish for consumption; as, to feed out turnips to the cows; to feed water to a steam boiler.

7. (Mach.) (a) To supply (the material to be operated upon) to a machine; as, to feed paper to a printing press. (b) To produce progressive operation upon or with (as in wood and metal working machines, so that the work moves to the cutting tool, or the tool to the work).

Feed, v. i. 1. To take food; to eat.

Her kid . . . which I afterwards killed because it would not feed.

De Foe.

2. To subject by eating; to satisfy the appetite; to feed one's self (upon something); to prey; -- with on or upon.

Leaving thy trunk for crows to feed upon.

Shak.

3. To be nourished, strengthened, or satisfied, as if by food. "He feeds upon the cooling shade." Spenser.

4. To place cattle to feed; to pasture; to graze.

If a man . . . shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another
man's field.

Ex. xxii. 5.

Feed (?), n. 1. That which is eaten; esp., food for beasts; fodder; pasture; hay; grain, ground or whole; as, the best feed for sheep.

2. A grazing or pasture ground. Shak.

3. An allowance of provender given to a horse, cow, etc.; a meal; as, a feed of corn or oats.

4. A meal, or the act of eating. [R.]

For such pleasure till that hour At feed or fountain never had I
found.

Milton.

5. The water supplied to steam boilers.

6. (Mach.) (a) The motion, or act, of carrying forward the stuff to be operated upon, as cloth to the needle in a sewing machine; or of producing progressive operation upon any material or object in a machine, as, in a turning lathe, by moving the cutting tool along or in the work. (b) The supply of material to a machine, as water to a steam boiler, coal to a furnace, or grain to a run of stones. (c) The mechanism by which the action of feeding is produced; a feed motion.

Feed bag, a nose bag containing feed for a horse or mule. -- Feed cloth, an apron for leading cotton, wool, or other fiber, into a machine, as for carding, etc. -- Feed door, a door to a furnace, by which to supply coal. -- Feed head. (a) A cistern for feeding water by gravity to a steam boiler. (b) (Founding) An excess of metal above a mold, which serves to render the casting more compact by its pressure; -- also called a riser, deadhead, or simply feed or head Knight. -- Feed heater. (a) (Steam Engine) A vessel in which the feed water for the boiler is heated, usually by exhaust steam. (b) A boiler or kettle in which is heated food for stock. -- Feed motion, or Feed gear (Mach.), the train of mechanism that gives motion to the part that directly produces the feed in a machine. -- Feed pipe, a pipe for supplying the boiler of a steam engine, etc., with water. -- Feed pump, a force pump for supplying water to a steam boiler, etc. -- Feed regulator, a device for graduating the operation of a feeder. Knight. -- Feed screw, in lathes, a long screw employed to impart a regular motion to a tool rest or tool, or to the work. -- Feed water, water supplied to a steam boiler, etc. -- Feed wheel (Mach.), a kind of feeder. See Feeder, n., 8.

Feed"er (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, gives food or supplies nourishment; steward.

A couple of friends, his chaplain and feeder.

Goldsmith.

2. One who furnishes incentives; an encourager. "The feeder of my riots." Shak.

3. One who eats or feeds; specifically, an animal to be fed or fattened.

With eager feeding, food doth choke the feeder.

Shak.

4. One who fattens cattle for slaughter.

5. A stream that flows into another body of water; a tributary; specifically (Hydraulic Engin.), a water course which supplies a canal or reservoir by gravitation or natural flow.

6. A branch railroad, stage line, or the like; a side line which increases the business of the main line.

7. (Mining) (a) A small lateral lode falling into the main lode or mineral vein. Ure. (b) A strong discharge of gas from a fissure; a blower. Raymond.

8. (Mach.) An auxiliary part of a machine which supplies or leads along the material operated upon.

9. (Steam Engine) A device for supplying steam boilers with water as needed.

Feed"ing, n. 1. the act of eating, or of supplying with food; the process of fattening.

2. That which is eaten; food.

3. That which furnishes or affords food, especially for animals; pasture land.

Feeding bottle. See under Bottle.

Fee`-faw`-fum" (?), n. A nonsensical exclamation attributed to giants and ogres; hence, any expression calculated to impose upon the timid and ignorant. "Impudent fee-faw-fums." J. H. Newman.

Fee"jee (?), a. & n. (Ethnol.) See Fijian.

Feel (fl), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Felt (flt); p. pr. & vb. n. Feeling.] [AS. flan; akin to OS. giflian to perceive, D. voelen to feel, OHG. fuolen, G. f¸hlen, Icel. flma to grope, and prob. to AS. folm palm of the hand, L. palma. Cf. Fumble, Palm.] 1. To perceive by the touch; to take cognizance of by means of the nerves of sensation distributed all over the body, especially by those of the skin; to have sensation excited by contact of (a thing) with the body or limbs.

Who feel Those rods of scorpions and those whips of steel.

Creecn.

2. To touch; to handle; to examine by touching; as, feel this piece of silk; hence, to make trial of; to test; often with out.

Come near, . . . that I may feel thee, my son.

Gen. xxvii. 21.

He hath this to feel my affection to your honor.

Shak.

3. To perceive by the mind; to have a sense of; to experience; to be affected by; to be sensible of, or sensitive to; as, to feel pleasure; to feel pain.

Teach me to feel another's woe.

Pope.

Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing.

Eccl. viii. 5.

He best can paint them who shall feel them most.

Pope.

Mankind have felt their strength and made it felt.

Byron.

4. To take internal cognizance of; to be conscious of; to have an inward persuasion of.

For then, and not till then, he felt himself.

Shak.

5. To perceive; to observe. [Obs.] Chaucer.

To feel the helm (Naut.), to obey it.

<! p. 550 !>

Feel (?), v. i. 1. To have perception by the touch, or by contact of anything with the nerves of sensation, especially those upon the surface of the body.

2. To have the sensibilities moved or affected.

[She] feels with the dignity of a Roman matron

. Burke.

And mine as man, who feel for all mankind.

Pope.

3. To be conscious of an inward impression, state of mind, persuasion, physical condition, etc.; to perceive one's self to be; -- followed by an adjective describing the state, etc.; as, to feel assured, grieved, persuaded.

I then did feel full sick.

Shak.

4. To know with feeling; to be conscious; hence, to know certainly or without misgiving.

Garlands . . . which I feel I am not worthy yet to wear.

Shak.

5. To appear to the touch; to give a perception; to produce an impression by the nerves of sensation; -- followed by an adjective describing the kind of sensation.

Blind men say black feels rough, and white feels smooth.

Dryden.

To feel after, to search for; to seek to find; to seek as a person groping in the dark. "If haply they might feel after him, and find him." Acts xvii. 27.

-- To feel of, to examine by touching.

Feel (?), n. 1. Feeling; perception. [R.]

To intercept and have a more kindly feel of its genial warmth.

Hazlitt.

2. A sensation communicated by touching; impression made upon one who touches or handles; as, this leather has a greasy feel.

The difference between these two tumors will be distinguished by
the feel.

S. Sharp.

Feel"er (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, feels.

2. (Zoˆl.) One of the sense organs or certain animals (as insects), which are used in testing objects by touch and in searching for food; an antenna; a palp.

Insects . . . perpetually feeling and searching before them with
their feelers or antennÊ.

Derham.

3. Anything, as a proposal, observation, etc., put forth or thrown out in order to ascertain the views of others; something tentative.

Feel"ing, a. 1. Possessing great sensibility; easily affected or moved; as, a feeling heart.

2. Expressive of great sensibility; attended by, or evincing, sensibility; as, he made a feeling representation of his wrongs.

Feel"ing, n. 1. The sense by which the mind, through certain nerves of the body, perceives external objects, or certain states of the body itself; that one of the five senses which resides in the general nerves of sensation distributed over the body, especially in its surface; the sense of touch; nervous sensibility to external objects.

Why was the sight To such a tender ball as the eye confined, . . .
And not, as feeling, through all parts diffused?

Milton.

2. An act or state of perception by the sense above described; an act of apprehending any object whatever; an act or state of apprehending the state of the soul itself; consciousness.

The apprehension of the good Gives but the greater feeling to the
worse.

Shak.

3. The capacity of the soul for emotional states; a high degree of susceptibility to emotions or states of the sensibility not dependent on the body; as, a man of feeling; a man destitute of feeling.

4. Any state or condition of emotion; the exercise of the capacity for emotion; any mental state whatever; as, a right or a wrong feeling in the heart; our angry or kindly feelings; a feeling of pride or of humility.

A fellow feeling makes one wondrous kind.

Garrick.

Tenderness for the feelings of others.

Macaulay.

5. That quality of a work of art which embodies the mental emotion of the artist, and is calculated to affect similarly the spectator. Fairholt.

Syn. -- Sensation; emotion; passion; sentiment; agitation; opinion. See Emotion, Passion, Sentiment.

Feel"ing*ly, adv. In a feeling manner; pathetically; sympathetically.

Feere (?), n. [See Fere, n.] A consort, husband or wife; a companion; a fere. [Obs.]

Feese (?), n. [Cf. OE. fesien to put to flight, AS. fsian, fsian, fsan, fr. fs, prompt, willing.] The short run before a leap. [Obs.] Nares.

Feet (?), n. pl. See Foot.

Feet, n. [See Feat, n.] Fact; performance. [Obs.]

Feet"less, a. Destitute of feet; as, feetless birds.

Feeze (?), v. t. [For sense 1, cf. F. visser to screw, vis screw, or 1st E. feaze, v.t.: for sense 2, see Feese.] 1. To turn, as a screw. [Scot] Jamieson.

2. To beat; to chastise; to humble; to worry. [Obs.] [Written also feaze, feize, pheese.] Beau. & Fl.

To feeze up, to work into a passion. [Obs.]

Feeze, n. Fretful excitement. [Obs.] See Feaze.

||Feh"ling (?), n. (Chem.) See Fehling's solution, under Solution.

Feh"mic (?), a. See Vehmic.

Feign (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Feigned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Feigning.] [OE. feinen, F. feindre (p. pr. feignant), fr. L. fingere; akin to L. figura figure,and E. dough. See Dough, and cf. Figure, Faint, Effigy, Fiction.] 1. To give a mental existence to, as to something not real or actual; to imagine; to invent; hence, to pretend; to form and relate as if true.

There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest
them out of thine own heart.

Neh. vi. 8.

The poet Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods.

Shak.

2. To represent by a false appearance of; to pretend; to counterfeit; as, to feign a sickness. Shak.

3. To dissemble; to conceal. [Obs.] Spenser.

Feigned (?), a. Not real or genuine; pretended; counterfeit; insincere; false. "A feigned friend." Shak.

Give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.

Ps. xvii. 1.

-- Feign"ed*ly (#), adv. -- Feign"ed*ness, n.

Her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole
heart, but feignedly.

Jer. iii. 10.

Feigned issue (Law), an issue produced in a pretended action between two parties for the purpose of trying before a jury a question of fact which it becomes necessary to settle in the progress of a cause. Burill. Bouvier.

Feign"er (?), n. One who feigns or pretends.

Feign"ing, a. That feigns; insincere; not genuine; false.

-- Feign"ing*ly, adv.

Feine (?), v. t. & i. To feign. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Feint (?), a. [F. feint, p. p. of feindre to feign. See Feign.] Feigned; counterfeit. [Obs.]

Dressed up into any feint appearance of it.

Locke.

Feint, n. [F. feinte, fr. feint. See Feint, a.] 1. That which is feigned; an assumed or false appearance; a pretense; a stratagem; a fetch.

Courtley's letter is but a feint to get off.

Spectator.

2. A mock blow or attack on one part when another part is intended to be struck; -- said of certain movements in fencing, boxing, war, etc.

Feint, v. i. To make a feint, or mock attack.

||Fei`tsui" (?), n. (Min.) The Chinese name for a highly prized variety ||of pale green jade. See Jade.

Feize (?), v. t. See Feeze, v. t.

Fel"an*ders (?), n. pl. See Filanders.

{ Feld"spar` (?), Feld"spath` (?) }, n. [G. feldspath; feld field + spath spar.] (Min.) A name given to a group of minerals, closely related in crystalline form, and all silicates of alumina with either potash, soda, lime, or, in one case, baryta. They occur in crystals and crystalline masses, vitreous in luster, and breaking rather easily in two directions at right angles to each other, or nearly so. The colors are usually white or nearly white, flesh-red, bluish, or greenish.

The group includes the monoclinic (orthoclastic) species orthoclase or common potash feldspar, and the rare hyalophane or baryta feldspar; also the triclinic species (called in general plagioclase) microcline, like orthoclase a potash feldspar; anorthite or lime feldspar; albite or soda feldspar; also intermediate between the last two species, labradorite, andesine, oligoclase, containing both lime and soda in varying amounts. The feldspars are essential constituents of nearly all crystalline rocks, as granite, gneiss, mica, slate, most kinds of basalt and trachyte, etc. The decomposition of feldspar has yielded a large part of the clay of the soil, also the mineral kaolin, an essential material in the making of fine pottery. Common feldspar is itself largely used for the same purpose.

{ Feld*spath"ic (?), Feld*spath"ose (?) }, a. Pertaining to, or consisting of, feldspar.

Fele (?), a. [AS. fela, feola; akin to G. viel, gr. &?;. See Full, a.] Many. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Fe*lic"ify (?), v. t. [L. felix happy + -fy.] To make happy; to felicitate. [Obs.] Quarles.

Fe*lic"i*tate (?), a. [L. felicitatus, p. p. of felicitare to felicitate, fr. felix, -icis, happy. See felicity.] Made very happy. [Archaic]

I am alone felicitate In your dear highness' love.

Shak.

Fe*lic"i*tate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Felicitated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. felicitating.] [Cf. F. fÈliciter.] 1. To make very happy; to delight.

What a glorious entertainment and pleasure would fill and
felicitate his spirit.

I. Watts.

2. To express joy or pleasure to; to wish felicity to; to call or consider (one's self) happy; to congratulate.

Every true heart must felicitate itself that its lot is cast in
this kingdom.

W. Howitt.

Syn. -- See Congratulate.

Fe*lic`i*ta"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. fÈlicitation.] The act of felicitating; a wishing of joy or happiness; congratulation.

Fe*lic"i*tous (?), a. Characterized by felicity; happy; prosperous; delightful; skillful; successful; happily applied or expressed; appropriate.

Felicitous words and images.

M. Arnold.

-- Fe*lic"i*tous*ly, adv. -- Fe*lic"i*tous*ness, n.

Fe*lic"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Felicities (#). [OE. felicite, F. fÈlicitÈ, fr. L. felicitas, fr. felix, -icis, happy, fruitful; akin to fetus.] 1. The state of being happy; blessedness; blissfulness; enjoyment of good.

Our own felicity we make or find.

Johnson.

Finally, after this life, to attain everlasting joy and felicity.

Book of Common Prayer.

2. That which promotes happiness; a successful or gratifying event; prosperity; blessing.

the felicities of her wonderful reign.

Atterbury.

3. A pleasing faculty or accomplishment; as, felicity in painting portraits, or in writing or talking. "Felicity of expression." Bp. Warburton.

Syn. -- Happiness; bliss; beatitude; blessedness; blissfulness. See Happiness.

Fe"line (?), a. [L. felinus, fr. feles, felis, cat, prob. orig., the fruitful: cf. F. fÈlin. See Fetus.] 1. (Zoˆl.) Catlike; of or pertaining to the genus Felis, or family FelidÊ; as, the feline race; feline voracity.

2. Characteristic of cats; sly; stealthy; treacherous; as, a feline nature; feline manners.

||Fe"lis (?), n. [L., cat.] (Zoˆl.) A genus of carnivorous mammals, ||including the domestic cat, the lion, tiger, panther, and similar ||animals.

Fell (?), imp. of Fall.

Fell, a. [OE. fel, OF. fel cruel, fierce, perfidious; cf. AS. fel (only in comp.) OF. fel, as a noun also accus. felon, is fr. LL. felo, of unknown origin; cf. Arm fall evil, Ir. feal, Arm. falloni treachery, Ir. & Gael. feall to betray; or cf. OHG. fillan to flay, torment, akin to E. fell skin. Cf. Felon.] 1. Cruel; barbarous; inhuman; fierce; savage; ravenous.

While we devise fell tortures for thy faults.

Shak.

2. Eager; earnest; intent. [Obs.]

I am so fell to my business.

Pepys.

Fell, n. [Cf. L. fel gall, bile, or E. fell, a.] Gall; anger; melancholy. [Obs.]

Untroubled of vile fear or bitter fell.

Spenser.

Fell, n. [AS. fell; akin to D. vel, OHG. fel, G. fell, Icel. fell (in comp.), Goth fill in ˛rutsfill leprosy, L. pellis skin, G. &?;. Cf. Film, Peel, Pell, n.] A skin or hide of a beast with the wool or hair on; a pelt; -- used chiefly in composition, as woolfell.

We are still handling our ewes, and their fells, you know, are
greasy.

Shak.

Fell (?), n. [Icel. fell, fjally; akin to Sw. fj‰ll a ridge or chain of mountains, Dan. fjeld mountain, rock and prob. to G. fels rock, or perh. to feld field, E. field.] 1. A barren or rocky hill. T. Gray.

2. A wild field; a moor. Dryton.

Fell, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Felled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Felling.] [AS. fellan, a causative verb fr. feallan to fall; akin to D. vellen, G. f‰llen, Icel. fella, Sw. f‰lla, Dan. fÊlde. See Fall, v. i.] To cause to fall; to prostrate; to bring down or to the ground; to cut down.

Stand, or I'll fell thee down.

Shak.

Fell, n. (Mining) The finer portions of ore which go through the meshes, when the ore is sorted by sifting.

Fell, v. t. [Cf. Gael. fill to fold, plait, Sw. fÂll a hem.] To sew or hem; -- said of seams.

Fell, n. 1. (Sewing) A form of seam joining two pieces of cloth, the edges being folded together and the stitches taken through both thicknesses.

2. (Weaving) The end of a web, formed by the last thread of the weft.

Fell"a*ble (?), a. Fit to be felled.

||Fel"lah (?), n.; pl. Ar. Fellahin (#), E. Fellahs (#). [Ar.] A ||peasant or cultivator of the soil among the Egyptians, Syrians, etc. ||W. M. Thomson.

Fell"er (?), n. One who, or that which, fells, knocks or cuts down; a machine for felling trees.

Fell"er, n. An appliance to a sewing machine for felling a seam.

Fell"fare` (?), n. [Cf. AS. fealafor, and E. fieldfare.] (Zoˆl.) The fieldfare.

Fel*lif"lu*ous (?), a. [L. fellifuus; fel gall + fluere to flow.] Flowing with gall. [R.] Johnson.

Fel*lin"ic (?), a. [L. fel, fellis, gall.] Of, relating to, or derived from, bile or gall; as, fellinic acid.

Fell"mon`ger (?), n. A dealer in fells or sheepskins, who separates the wool from the pelts.

Fell"ness, n. [See Fell cruel.] The quality or state of being fell or cruel; fierce barbarity. Spenser.

Fel"loe (?), n. See Felly.

Fel"lon (?), n. Variant of Felon. [Obs.]

Those two were foes the fellonest on ground.

Spenser.

Fel"low (?), n. [OE. felawe, felaghe, Icel. flagi, fr. flag companionship, prop., a laying together of property; f property + lag a laying, pl. lˆg law, akin to liggja to lie. See Fee, and Law, Lie to be low.] 1. A companion; a comrade; an associate; a partner; a sharer.

The fellows of his crime.

Milton.

We are fellows still, Serving alike in sorrow.

Shak.

That enormous engine was flanked by two fellows almost of equal
magnitude.

Gibbon.

Commonly used of men, but sometimes of women. Judges xi. 37.

2. A man without good breeding or worth; an ignoble or mean man.

Worth makes the man, and want of it, the fellow.

Pope.

3. An equal in power, rank, character, etc.

It is impossible that ever Rome Should breed thy fellow.

Shak.

4. One of a pair, or of two things used together or suited to each other; a mate; the male.

When they be but heifers of one year, . . . they are let go to the
fellow and breed.

Holland.

This was my glove; here is the fellow of it.

Shak.

5. A person; an individual.

She seemed to be a good sort of fellow.

Dickens.

6. In the English universities, a scholar who is appointed to a foundation called a fellowship, which gives a title to certain perquisites and privileges.

7. In an American college or university, a member of the corporation which manages its business interests; also, a graduate appointed to a fellowship, who receives the income of the foundation.

8. A member of a literary or scientific society; as, a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Fellow is often used in compound words, or adjectively, signifying associate, companion, or sometimes equal. Usually, such compounds or phrases are self- explanatory; as, fellow-citizen, or fellow citizen; fellow-student, or fellow student; fellow- workman, or fellow workman; fellow-mortal, or fellow mortal; fellow-sufferer; bedfellow; playfellow; workfellow.

Were the great duke himself here, and would lift up My head to
fellow pomp amongst his nobles.

Ford.

Fel"low (?), v. t. To suit with; to pair with; to match. [Obs.] Shak.

Fel"low-com"mon*er (?), n. A student at Cambridge University, England, who commons, or dines, at the Fellow's table.

Fel"low-crea"ture (?; 135), n. One of the same race or kind; one made by the same Creator.

Reason, by which we are raised above our fellow- creatures, the
brutes.

I. Watts.

Fel"low*feel" (?), v. t. To share through sympathy; to participate in. [R.] D. Rodgers.

Fel"low-feel"ing, n. 1. Sympathy; a like feeling.

2. Joint interest. [Obs.] Arbuthnot.

Fel"low*less, a. Without fellow or equal; peerless.

Whose well-built walls are rare and fellowless.

Chapman.

Fel"low*like` (?), a. Like a companion; companionable; on equal terms; sympathetic. [Obs.] Udall.

Fel"low*ly, a. Fellowlike. [Obs.] Shak.

Fel"low*ship (?), n. [Fellow + -ship.] 1. The state or relation of being or associate.

2. Companionship of persons on equal and friendly terms; frequent and familiar intercourse.

In a great town, friends are scattered, so that there is not that
fellowship which is in less neighborhods.

Bacon.

Men are made for society and mutual fellowship.

Calamy.

3. A state of being together; companionship; partnership; association; hence, confederation; joint interest.

The great contention of the sea and skies Parted our fellowship.

Shak.

Fellowship in pain divides not smart

. Milton.

Fellowship in woe doth woe assuage

. Shak.

The goodliest fellowship of famous knights, Whereof this world
holds record.

Tennyson.

4. Those associated with one, as in a family, or a society; a company.

The sorrow of Noah with his fellowship.

Chaucer.

With that a joyous fellowship issued Of minstrels.

Spenser.

5. (Eng. & Amer. Universities) A foundation for the maintenance, on certain conditions, of a scholar called a fellow, who usually resides at the university.

6. (Arith.) The rule for dividing profit and loss among partners; -- called also partnership, company, and distributive proportion.

Good fellowship, companionableness; the spirit and disposition befitting comrades.

There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee.

Shak.

<! p. 551 !>

Fel"low*ship (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fellowshiped (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n.. Fellowshiping.] (Eccl.) To acknowledge as of good standing, or in communion according to standards of faith and practice; to admit to Christian fellowship.

Fel"ly (?), adv. In a fell or cruel manner; fiercely; barbarously; savagely. Spenser.

Fel"ly, n.; pl. Fellies (&?;). [OE. feli, felwe, felow, AS. felg, felge; akin to D. velg, G. felge, OHG. felga felly (also, a harrow, but prob. a different word), Dan. felge.] The exterior wooden rim, or a segment of the rim, of a wheel, supported by the spokes. [Written also felloe.]

Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel.

Shak.

||Fe"lo-de-se` (?), n.; pl. Felos-de-se (#). [LL. felo, E. felon + de ||of, concerning + se self.] (Law) One who deliberately puts an end to ||his own existence, or loses his life while engaged in the commission ||of an unlawful or malicious act; a suicide. Burrill.

Fel"on (?), n. [OE., adj., cruel, n., villain, ruffian, traitor, whitlow, F. fÈlon traitor, in OF. also, villain, fr. LL. felo. See Fell, a.] 1. (Law) A person who has committed a felony.

2. A person guilty or capable of heinous crime.

3. (Med.) A kind of whitlow; a painful imflammation of the periosteum of a finger, usually of the last joint.

Syn. -- Criminal; convict; malefactor; culprit.

Fel"on, a. Characteristic of a felon; malignant; fierce; malicious; cruel; traitorous; disloyal.

Vain shows of love to vail his felon hate.

Pope.

Fe*lo"ni*ous (?), a. Having the quality of felony; malignant; malicious; villainous; traitorous; perfidious; in a legal sense, done with intent to commit a crime; as, felonious homicide.

O thievish Night, Why should'st thou, but for some felonious end,
In thy dark lantern thus close up the stars?

Milton.

-- Fe*lo"ni*ous*ly, adv. -- Fe*lo"ni*ous*ness, n.

Fel"o*nous (?), a. [Cf. OF. feloneus. Cf. Felonious.] Wicked; felonious. [Obs.] Spenser.

Fel"on*ry (?), n. A body of felons; specifically, the convict population of a penal colony. Howitt.

Fel"on*wort` (?), n. (Bot.) The bittersweet nightshade (Solanum Dulcamara). See Bittersweet.

Fel"o*ny (?), n.; pl. Felonies (#). [OE. felonie cruelty, OF. felonie, F. fÈlonie treachery, malice. See Felon, n.] 1. (Feudal Law) An act on the part of the vassal which cost him his fee by forfeiture. Burrill.

2. (O. Eng. Law) An offense which occasions a total forfeiture either lands or goods, or both, at the common law, and to which capital or other punishment may be added, according to the degree of guilt.

3. A heinous crime; especially, a crime punishable by death or imprisonment.

Forfeiture for crime having been generally abolished in the United States, the term felony, in American law, has lost this point of distinction; and its meaning, where not fixed by statute, is somewhat vague and undefined; generally, however, it is used to denote an offense of a high grade, punishable either capitally or by a term of imprisonment. In Massachusetts, by statute, any crime punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison, and no other, is a felony; so in New York. the tendency now is to obliterate the distinction between felonies and misdemeanors; and this has been done partially in England, and completely in some of the States of the Union. The distinction is purely arbitrary, and its entire abolition is only a question of time.

There is no lawyer who would undertake to tell what a felony is, otherwise than by enumerating the various kinds of offenses which are so called. originally, the word felony had a meaning: it denoted all offenses the penalty of which included forfeiture of goods; but subsequent acts of Parliament have declared various offenses to be felonies, without enjoining that penalty, and have taken away the penalty from others, which continue, nevertheless, to be called felonies, insomuch that the acts so called have now no property whatever in common, save that of being unlawful and purnishable. J. S. Mill.

To compound a felony. See under Compound, v. t.

Fel"site (?), n. [Cf. Feldspar.] (Min.) A finegrained rock, flintlike in fracture, consisting essentially of orthoclase feldspar with occasional grains of quartz.

Fel*sit"ic (?), a. relating to, composed of, or containing, felsite.

{ Fel"spar` (?), Fel"spath` (?) }, n. (Min.) See Feldspar.

Fel*spath"ic (?), a. See Feldspathic.

Fel"stone` (?), n. [From G. feldstein, in analogy with E. felspar.] (Min.) See Felsite.

Felt (?), imp. & p. p. or a. from Feel.

Felt (?), n. [AS. felt; akin to D. vilt, G. filz, and possibly to Gr. &?; hair or wool wrought into felt, L. pilus hair, pileus a felt cap or hat.] 1. A cloth or stuff made of matted fibers of wool, or wool and fur, fulled or wrought into a compact substance by rolling and pressure, with lees or size, without spinning or weaving.

It were a delicate stratagem to shoe A troop of horse with felt.

Shak.

2. A hat made of felt. Thynne.

3. A skin or hide; a fell; a pelt. [Obs.]

To know whether sheep are sound or not, see that the felt be loose.

Mortimer.

Felt grain, the grain of timber which is transverse to the annular rings or plates; the direction of the medullary rays in oak and some other timber. Knight.

Felt, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Felted; p. pr. & vb. n. Felting.] 1. To make into felt, or a feltike substance; to cause to adhere and mat together. Sir M. Hale.

2. To cover with, or as with, felt; as, to felt the cylinder of a steam engine.

Felt"er (?), v. t. To clot or mat together like felt.

His feltered locks that on his bosom fell.

Fairfax.

Felt"ing, n. 1. The material of which felt is made; also, felted cloth; also, the process by which it is made.

2. The act of splitting timber by the felt grain.

Fel"try (?), n. [OF. feltre.] See Felt, n. [Obs.]

Fe*luc"ca (&?;), n. [It. feluca (cf. Sp. faluca, Pg. falua), fr. Ar. fulk ship, or harrqah a sort of ship.] (Naut.) A small, swift-sailing vessel, propelled by oars and lateen sails, -- once common in the Mediterranean. Sometimes it is constructed so that the helm may be used at either end.

Fel"wort` (?), n. [Probably a corruption of fieldwort.] (Bot.) A European herb (Swertia perennis) of the Gentian family.

Fe"male (?), n. [OE. femel, femal, F. femelle, fr. L. femella, dim. of femina woman. See Feminine.] 1. An individual of the sex which conceives and brings forth young, or (in a wider sense) which has an ovary and produces ova.

The male and female of each living thing.

Drayton.

2. (Bot.) A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organs which are capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant.

Fe"male, a. 1. Belonging to the sex which conceives and gives birth to young, or (in a wider sense) which produces ova; not male.

As patient as the female dove When that her golden couplets are
disclosed.

Shak.

2. Belonging to an individual of the female sex; characteristic of woman; feminine; as, female tenderness. "Female usurpation.'b8 Milton.

To the generous decision of a female mind, we owe the discovery of
America.

Belknap.

3. (Bot.) Having pistils and no stamens; pistillate; or, in cryptogamous plants, capable of receiving fertilization.

Female rhymes (Pros.), double rhymes, or rhymes (called in French feminine rhymes because they end in e weak, or feminine) in which two syllables, an accented and an unaccented one, correspond at the end of each line.

A rhyme, in which the final syllables only agree (strain, complain) is called a male rhyme; one in which the two final syllables of each verse agree, the last being short (motion, ocean), is called female. Brande & C.

-- Female screw, the spiral-threaded cavity into which another, or male, screw turns. Nicholson. -- Female fern (Bot.), a common species of fern with large decompound fronds (Asplenium FilixfÊmina), growing in many countries; lady fern.

The names male fern and female fern were anciently given to two common ferns; but it is now understood that neither has any sexual character.

Syn. -- Female, Feminine. We apply female to the sex or individual, as opposed to male; also, to the distinctive belongings of women; as, female dress, female form, female character, etc.; feminine, to things appropriate to, or affected by, women; as, feminine studies, employments, accomplishments, etc. "Female applies to sex rather than gender, and is a physiological rather than a grammatical term. Feminine applies to gender rather than sex, and is grammatical rather than physiological." Latham.

Fe"mal*ist (?), n. A gallant. [Obs.]

Courting her smoothly like a femalist.

Marston.

Fe"mal*ize (?), v. t. To make, or to describe as, female or feminine. Shaftesbury.

||Feme (fm or fm), n. [OF. feme, F. femme.] (Old Law) A woman. Burrill.