feather

Syllables: feath·er/ˈfɛvə/UK/ˈfɛðə/

feather noun: a branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.

Image: Joao Estevao Andrade de Freitas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

feather (plural feathers)

A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.
- Notice, too, that the shaft is not straight, but bent so that the upper surface of the feather is convex, and the lower concave.1873, W. K. Brooks, “A Feather”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume IV, page 687
- 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.1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter V, in The Beasts of Tarzan
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

Antonyms:

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.
- Near-synonym: spline
Synonyms:

spline
Kind; nature; species (from the proverbial phrase "birds of a feather").
- I am not of that feather to shake off / My friend when he must need me.c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
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.
- 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.1823, An Ecclesiastical Memoir of Essex Street Religious Society
(in plural) Partridges and pheasants, as opposed to rabbits and hares (called fur).
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.
- Signal M123 is a conventional 3-aspect colour light with three Junction Indicators - commonly known as 'feathers'.2020 December 30, David Allen, “Unusual signals...: Morpeth Signal M123”, in Rail, page 64
A faint edge.

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.
- An Eagle had the ill Hap to be Struck with an Arrow Feather'd from her own Wing.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
- 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, […]1912, Frances, Object-lessons on Temperance, Or, The Indian Maiden and Her White Deer, page 117
To adorn, as if with feathers; to fringe.
- A few birches and oaks still feathered the narrow ravines, or occupied in dwarf clusters the hollow plains of the moor.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, […]...
To arrange in the manner or appearance of feathers.
- The stylist feathered my hair.
(ambitransitive) To rotate the oars while they are out of the water to reduce wind resistance.
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.
- After striking the bird, the pilot feathered the damaged left engine’s propeller.
To finely shave or bevel an edge.
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.
- Whether or not the ink feathers depends upon the paper or card, and also upon the nature of the dye in the ink.1940, Circular of the Bureau of Standards, numbers 426-451, page 50
(transitive) To render light as a feather; to give wings to.
- The Polonian story, which perhaps may feather some tedious hours.c. 1650, Robert Loveday, letter to Mr. C.
(transitive) 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.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...
(transitive) To tread, as a cockerel.
- Ardent in love[…]He feather'd her a hundred times a day.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
To move the cue back and forth along the bridge in preparation for striking the cue ball.

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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.
- His breath feathered her lips; her spine, her legs weakened, went soft at the wafting warmth.2001, Joan Hohl, Maybe Tomorrow, Zebra Books, →ISBN, page 186
- 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.2006, Gary Parker, Her Daddy's Eyes, Baker Books, →ISBN, page 143
(transitive) To move softly, like a feather.
- She feathered her fingers through Mitchell's hair. “Besides, I like you a whole lot better than Frye.”2005, Radclyffe, Justice Served, Bold Strokes Books Inc
- “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.2011, L.L. Raand, Blood Hunt, Bold Strokes Books Inc, →ISBN

Proper noun capitalized: Feather

Feather (plural Feathers)

An English surname originating as an occupation.
An anglicized Americanized German surname from German, equivalent to English Feather.

Synonyms:

Feder

feather meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

feather in Hindi

branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds: पंख paṅkh, पर par

feather in Tamil

branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds: சிறகு ciṟaku

feather in Marathi

branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds: पीस pīsa

feather in Urdu

branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds: پَنکْھ pankh, پَر par

More languagesFewer languages

feather in Bengali: পালক palok
feather in Telugu: ఈక īka
feather in Malayalam: തൂവൽ tūval
feather in Kannada: ಪುಕ್ಕ pukka, ಗರಿ gari
feather in Punjabi: ਖੰਭ khambh
feather in Gujarati: પીછું pīchũ
feather in Odia: ପର para
feather in Sanskrit: पर्ण parṇá
feather in Sinhala: පිහාටුවක් pihāṭuwak
feather in Assamese: পাখি pakhi
feather in Nepali: प्वाँख pwā̃kh
feather in Pashto: پر par, بڼکه baṇᶕka
feather in Tagalog: balahibo, bagwis, pulad, sima
feather in Arabic: رِيش rīš, رِيشَة rīša
feather in Malay: bulu pelepah
feather in Indonesian: bulu
feather in Thai: ขนนก kǒn-nók, ขน kǒn
feather in Vietnamese: lông vũ, lông, lông chim
feather in Myanmar: အတောင် a.taung

Examples of feather in a sentence

Nesting birds pluck some of their own feathers to line the nest, but feather plucking in pet birds is entirely different.2000, C. J. Puotinen, The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care, page 362:
She feathered her arrows in the Seneca fashion, two lengths of feather tied on with a spiral twist, so they would spin in flight.2007, Thomas Perry, Vanishing Act, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 302:

All 40 example sentences with feather

Synonyms of feather

Antonyms

spats

All synonyms and antonyms of feather

Forms of feather

Noun
plural	feathers
alternative form (archaic)	fether
Verb
third-person singular present	feathers
present participle	feathering
past participle	feathered
past	feathered
Proper noun
plural	Feathers

Past tense of feather: feathered

Plural of feather: feathers

Origin of feather

From Middle English fethere, 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).

* As an occupational English name, from feather, used to refer to quilt makers, feather traders, etc. * As an Americanized German surname, from Feder.

Words formed from feather

Phrases with feather

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Words that rhyme with feather

Questions about feather

What does feather mean?: Feather means a branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.
What is feather in Hindi?: Feather in Hindi is पंख (paṅkh), पर (par). See Feather meaning in Hindi.
How do you use feather in a sentence?: Nesting birds pluck some of their own feathers to line the nest, but feather plucking in pet birds is entirely different.
What part of speech is feather?: Feather can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce feather?: Feather is pronounced /ˈfɛðə/ (UK).
What is the plural of feather?: The plural of feather is feathers.

Words near feather in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: feather (page history and authors); Feather (page history and authors); ಗರಿ (Kannada) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-feather.ogg.

Cite this entry: “feather.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/feather. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.