feathers

Noun

feather (plural feathers)

1. 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
2. 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

3. One of the fins or wings on the shaft of an arrow.
4. 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

5. 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...
6. 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.

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