feel for

Verb

feel for (third-person singular simple present feels for, present participle feeling for, simple past and past participle felt for)

1. (idiomatic) To experience sympathy for, to sympathise with.
   • I feel for him: he’s lost two family members in two months.
2. (idiomatic) To search for something by touching (as with one’s hand in a bag).
   • He felt for his purse.
   • Harry felt for his purse in his left-hand trousers pocket, but it was not there. He then tried his right-hand trousers pocket, but it was not there. He then tested the left hand pocket of his vest, but it was not there. He then explored the right-hand pocket of his vest, but it was not there. He...1896, Stephen Wyke, The Yorkshire Cousins, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Company, Limited, →OCLC, page 15