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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Feather \Feath"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Feathered}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Feathering.}]
1. To furnish with a feather or feathers, as an arrow or a
cap.
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An eagle had the ill hap to be struck with an arrow
feathered from her own wing. --L'Estrange.
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2. To adorn, as with feathers; to fringe.
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A few birches and oaks still feathered the narrow
ravines. --Sir W.
Scott.
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3. To render light as a feather; to give wings to.[R.]
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The Polonian story perhaps may feather some tedious
hours. --Loveday.
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4. To enrich; to exalt; to benefit.
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They stuck not to say that the king cared not to
plume his nobility and people to feather himself.
--Bacon.
--Dryden.
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5. To tread, as a cock. --Dryden.
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{To feather one's nest}, to provide for one's self especially
from property belonging to another, confided to one's
care; -- an expression taken from the practice of birds
which collect feathers for the lining of their nests.

{To feather an oar} (Naut), to turn it when it leaves the
water so that the blade will be horizontal and offer the
least resistance to air while reaching for another stroke.


{To tar and feather a person}, to smear him with tar and
cover him with feathers, as a punishment or an indignity.
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Feather \Feath"er\, v. i.
1. To grow or form feathers; to become feathered; -- often
with out; as, the birds are feathering out.
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2. To curdle when poured into another liquid, and float about
in little flakes or "feathers;" as, the cream feathers.
[Colloq.]
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3. To turn to a horizontal plane; -- said of oars.
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The feathering oar returns the gleam. --Tickell.
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Stopping his sculls in the air to feather
accurately. --Macmillan's
Mag.
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4. To have the appearance of a feather or of feathers; to be
or to appear in feathery form.
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A clump of ancient cedars feathering in evergreen
beauty down to the ground. --Warren.
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The ripple feathering from her bows. --Tennyson.
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Feather \Feath"er\ (f[e^][th]"[~e]r), n. [OE. fether, AS.
fe[eth]er; akin to D. veder, OHG. fedara, G. feder, Icel.
fj["o][eth]r, Sw. fj[aum]der, Dan. fj[ae]der, Gr. ptero`n
wing, feather, pe`tesqai to fly, Skr. pattra wing, feather,
pat to fly, and prob. to L. penna feather, wing. [root]76,
248. Cf. {Pen} a feather.]
1. One of the peculiar dermal appendages, of several kinds,
belonging to birds, as contour feathers, quills, and down.
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Note: An ordinary feather consists of the quill or hollow
basal part of the stem; the shaft or rachis, forming
the upper, solid part of the stem; the vanes or webs,
implanted on the rachis and consisting of a series of
slender lamin[ae] or barbs, which usually bear
barbules, which in turn usually bear barbicels and
interlocking hooks by which they are fastened together.
See {Down}, {Quill}, {Plumage}.

2. Kind; nature; species; -- from the proverbial phrase,
"Birds of a feather," that is, of the same species. [R.]
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I am not of that feather to shake off
My friend when he must need me. --Shak.
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3. The fringe of long hair on the legs of the setter and some
other dogs.
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4. A tuft of peculiar, long, frizzly hair on a horse.
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5. One of the fins or wings on the shaft of an arrow.
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6. (Mach. & Carp.) A longitudinal strip projecting as a fin
from an object, to strengthen it, or to enter a channel in
another object and thereby prevent displacement sidwise
but permit motion lengthwise; a spline.
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7. A thin wedge driven between the two semicylindrical parts
of a divided plug in a hole bored in a stone, to rend the
stone. --Knight.
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8. The angular adjustment of an oar or paddle-wheel float,
with reference to a horizontal axis, as it leaves or
enters the water.
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Note: Feather is used adjectively or in combination, meaning
composed of, or resembling, a feather or feathers; as,
feather fan, feather-heeled, feather duster.
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{Feather alum} (Min.), a hydrous sulphate of alumina,
resulting from volcanic action, and from the decomposition
of iron pyrites; -- called also {halotrichite}. --Ure.

{Feather bed}, a bed filled with feathers.

{Feather driver}, one who prepares feathers by beating.

{Feather duster}, a dusting brush of feathers.

{Feather flower}, an artifical flower made of feathers, for
ladies' headdresses, and other ornamental purposes.

{Feather grass} (Bot.), a kind of grass ({Stipa pennata})
which has a long feathery awn rising from one of the
chaffy scales which inclose the grain.

{Feather maker}, one who makes plumes, etc., of feathers,
real or artificial.

{Feather ore} (Min.), a sulphide of antimony and lead,
sometimes found in capillary forms and like a cobweb, but
also massive. It is a variety of Jamesonite.

{Feather shot}, or {Feathered shot} (Metal.), copper
granulated by pouring into cold water. --Raymond.

{Feather spray} (Naut.), the spray thrown up, like pairs of
feathers, by the cutwater of a fast-moving vessel.

{Feather star}. (Zool.) See {Comatula}.

{Feather weight}. (Racing)
(a) Scrupulously exact weight, so that a feather would
turn the scale, when a jockey is weighed or weighted.
(b) The lightest weight that can be put on the back of a
horse in racing. --Youatt.
(c) In wrestling, boxing, etc., a term applied to the
lightest of the classes into which contestants are
divided; -- in contradistinction to {light weight},
{middle weight}, and {heavy weight}.

{A feather in the cap} an honour, trophy, or mark of
distinction. [Colloq.]

{To be in full feather}, to be in full dress or in one's best
clothes. [Collog.]

{To be in high feather}, to be in high spirits. [Collog.]

{To cut a feather}.
(a) (Naut.) To make the water foam in moving; in allusion
to the ripple which a ship throws off from her bows.
(b) To make one's self conspicuous. [Colloq.]

{To show the white feather}, to betray cowardice, -- a white
feather in the tail of a cock being considered an
indication that he is not of the true game breed.
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