feather

== English == === Alternative forms === fether (archaic) === 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 (noun sense 4) probably reflects analogy with the fletching sense (noun sense 3). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfɛð.ə(ɹ)/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈfɛð.ɚ/ Rhymes: -ɛðə(ɹ) Hyphenation: feath‧er === Noun === feather (plural feathers) A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display. 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: feathers, feathering, horsefeathers Antonym: spats One of the fins or wings on the shaft of an arrow. 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. Coordinate terms: key, spline Near-synonym: spline Kind; nature; species (from the proverbial phrase "birds of a feather"). 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. The angular adjustment of an oar or paddle-wheel float, with reference to a horizontal axis, as it leaves or enters the water. Anything petty or trifling; a whit or jot. (hunting, in the plural) Partridges and pheasants, as opposed to rabbits and hares (called fur). (rail transport) 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. (cricket) A faint edge. ==== Synonyms ==== plume (archaic, literary and poetic), pluma (archaic) ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === feather (third-person singular simple present feathers, present participle feathering, simple past and past participle feathered) To cover or furnish with feathers; (when of an arrow) to fletch. To adorn, as if with feathers; to fringe. To arrange in the manner or appearance of feathers. (ambitransitive, rowing) To rotate the oars while they are out of the water to reduce wind resistance. (aeronautics) 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. (carpentry, engineering) To finely shave or bevel an edge. (computer graphics) To intergrade or blend the pixels of an image with those of a background or neighboring image. (intransitive) Of written or printed ink: to take on a blurry appearance as a result of spreading through the receiving medium. (transitive) To render light as a feather; to give wings to. c. 1650, Robert Loveday, letter to Mr. C. The Polonian story, which perhaps may feather some tedious hours. (transitive) To enrich; to exalt; to benefit. (transitive) To tread, as a cockerel. (snooker, billiards) To move the cue back and forth along the bridge in preparation for striking the cue ball. (snooker, billiards) To accidentally touch the cue ball with the tip of the cue when taking aim. (transitive) To touch lightly, like (or as if with) a feather. (transitive) To move softly, like a feather. 2005, Radclyffe, Justice Served, Bold Strokes Books Inc (→ISBN): She feathered her fingers through Mitchell's hair. “Besides, I like you a whole lot better than Frye.” ==== Derived terms ==== feathered feather one's nest feather one's own nest tar and feather ==== Translations ==== === References === Horse Glossary Horses Glossary Cowboy Dictionary – Cowboy F: Feather === Further reading === feather on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === Anagrams === feareth, terefah