Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Plumage.
- noun The feathers fitted to an arrow.
- noun A fringe of hair on an animal's coat, especially on a dog's leg.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Plumage.
- noun The adjustment of feathers to an arrow, whether shaft or bolt. See arrow, vireton.
- noun In architecture, an arrangement of small arcs or foils separated by projecting points or cusps, used as ornaments in the molding of arches, etc., in pointed medieval architecture; foliation. See
cusp . - noun Same as
feather , 2 . - noun In the aquatint process, the application of strong acid to the plate, to bite in dark touches. See
aquatint . - noun In violin-playing, a very light and delicate use of the bow.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Arch.) Same as
foliation . - noun 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. - noun A covering of feathers.
- noun (Naut.) the float or paddle of a feathering wheel.
- noun (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.
- noun (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.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb Present participle of
feather .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun turning an oar parallel to the water between pulls
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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CONAN: And as you point out, tarring and feathering is an expression.
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What joy there is to be found in feathering a nest.
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What joy there is to be found in feathering a nest.
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Tarring and feathering is an option — it is equally humiliating and far more painful.
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 “This confirms our belief that the interests of the Iraqi regime lies in feathering its own nests and it casts doubts on its commitment to providing humanitarian relief to the people, †he said. “It undermines the efforts of governments such as Britain to provide relief for the Iraqi people under the oil-for-food program. â€
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A good tar and feathering is in order for the top dogs in the Bush administration.
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Eastward, a thick fir wood grew, beginning with tiny treelets just feathering from the grass, and grading up therefrom to the tall veterans of the mid-grove, unbrokenly and evenly, giving the effect of a solid, sloping green wall, so beautifully compact that it looked as if it had been clipped into its velvet surface by art.
Kilmeny of the Orchard Lucy Maud 1910
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So this is our first sort of glimpse of early penguin feathering.
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So this is our first sort of glimpse of early penguin feathering.
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So this is our first sort of glimpse of early penguin feathering.
reesetee commented on the word feathering
In glassmaking, the process of dragging a tool across a series of trails while they are semi-molten to create a feather-like pattern. See also combed decoration.
November 9, 2007