資料來源 : pyDict
羽毛長羽毛用羽毛裝飾
資料來源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Feather \Feath"er\, n. [OE. fether, AS. fe?der; akin to D.
veder, OHG. fedara, G. feder, Icel. fj["o]?r, Sw. fj["a]der,
Dan. fj[ae]der, Gr. ? wing, feather, ? to fly, Skr. pattra
wing, feathr, 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.
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
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.]
I am not of that feather to shake off My friend when
he must need me. --Shak.
3. The fringe of long hair on the legs of the setter and some
other dogs.
4. A tuft of peculiar, long, frizzly hair on a horse.
5. One of the fins or wings on the shaft of an arrow.
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.
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.
8. The angular adjustment of an oar or paddle-wheel float,
with reference to a horizontal axis, as it leaves or
enters the water.
Note: Feather is used adjectively or in combination, meaning
composed of, or resembling, a feather or feathers; as,
feather fan, feather-heeled, feather duster.
{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}. (Zo["o]l.) 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.
Feather \Feath"er\, v. i.
1. To grow or form feathers; to become feathered; -- often
with out; as, the birds are feathering out.
2. To curdle when poured into another liquid, and float about
in little flakes or ``feathers;'' as, the cream feathers
[Colloq.]
3. To turn to a horizontal plane; -- said of oars.
The feathering oar returns the gleam. --Tickell.
Stopping his sculls in the air to feather
accurately. --Macmillan's
Mag.
4. To have the appearance of a feather or of feathers; to be
or to appear in feathery form.
A clump of ancient cedars feathering in evergreen
beauty down to the ground. --Warren.
The ripple feathering from her bows. --Tennyson.
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.
An eagle had the ill hap to be struck with an arrow
feathered from her own wing. --L'Estrange.
2. To adorn, as with feathers; to fringe.
A few birches and oaks still feathered the narrow
ravines. --Sir W.
Scott.
3. To render light as a feather; to give wings to.[R.]
The Polonian story perhaps may feather some tedions
hours. --Loveday.
4. 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.
--Bacon.
--Dryden.
5. To tread, as a cock. --Dryden.
{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.
資料來源 : WordNet®
feather
n 1: the light horny waterproof structure forming the external
covering of birds [syn: {plume}, {plumage}]
2: turning an oar parallel to the water between pulls [syn: {feathering}]
feather
v 1: join tongue and groove, in carpentry
2: cover or fit with feathers
3: turn the paddle; in canoeing [syn: {square}]
4: turn the oar, while rowing [syn: {square}]
5: grow feathers; "The young sparrows are fledging already"
[syn: {fledge}]