Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Feel

Feel

(fēl)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Felt
(fĕlt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Feeling
.]
[AS.
fēlan
; akin to OS.
gifōlian
to perceive, D.
voelen
to feel, OHG.
fuolen
, G.
fühlen
, Icel.
fālma
to grope, and prob. to AS.
folm
palm of the hand, L.
palma
. Cf.
Fumble
,
Palm
.]
1.
To perceive by the touch; to take cognizance of by means of the nerves of sensation distributed all over the body, especially by those of the skin; to have sensation excited by contact of (a thing) with the body or limbs.
Who
feel

Those rods of scorpions and those whips of steel.
Creecn.
2.
To touch; to handle; to examine by touching;
as,
feel
this piece of silk
; hence, to make trial of; to test; often with
out
.
Come near, . . . that I may
feel
thee, my son.
Gen. xxvii. 21.
He hath this to
feel
my affection to your honor.
Shakespeare
3.
To perceive by the mind; to have a sense of; to experience; to be affected by; to be sensible of, or sensitive to;
as, to
feel
pleasure; to
feel
pain.
Teach me to
feel
another’s woe.
Pope.
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall
feel
no evil thing.
Eccl. viii. 5.
He best can paint them who shall
feel
them most.
Pope.
Mankind have
felt
their strength and made it
felt
.
Byron.
4.
To take internal cognizance of; to be conscious of; to have an inward persuasion of.
For then, and not till then, he
felt
himself.
Shakespeare
5.
To perceive; to observe.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
To feel the helm
(Naut.)
,
to obey it.

Feel

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To have perception by the touch, or by contact of anything with the nerves of sensation, especially those upon the surface of the body.
2.
To have the sensibilities moved or affected.
[She]
feels
with the dignity of a Roman matron
Burke.
.
And mine as man, who
feel
for all mankind.
Pope.
3.
To be conscious of an inward impression, state of mind, persuasion, physical condition, etc.; to perceive one's self to be; – followed by an adjective describing the state, etc.;
as, to
feel
assured, grieved, persuaded
.
I then did
feel
full sick.
Shakespeare
4.
To know with feeling; to be conscious; hence, to know certainly or without misgiving.
Garlands . . . which I
feel

I am not worthy yet to wear.
Shakespeare
5.
To appear to the touch; to give a perception; to produce an impression by the nerves of sensation; – followed by an adjective describing the kind of sensation.
Blind men say black
feels
rough, and white
feels
smooth.
Dryden.
To feel of
,
to examine by touching.

Feel

,
Noun.
1.
Feeling; perception.
[R.]
To intercept and have a more kindly
feel
of its genial warmth.
Hazlitt.
2.
A sensation communicated by touching; impression made upon one who touches or handles;
as, this leather has a greasy
feel
.
The difference between these two tumors will be distinguished by the
feel
.
S. Sharp.

Webster 1828 Edition


Feel

FEEL

,
Verb.
T.
pret. and pp. felt. [L. palpo. the primary sense is to touch, to pat, to strike gently, or to press, as is evident from the L. palpito, and other derivatives of palp. If so, the word seems to be allied to L. pello.]
1.
To perceive by the touch; to have sensation excited by contact of a thing with the body or limbs.
Suffer me that I may feel the pillars. Judges 16.
Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son.
Gen. 27.
2.
To have the sense of; to suffer or enjoy; as, to feel pain; to feel pleasure.
3.
To experience; to suffer.
Whoso keepeth the commandments shall feel no evil thing. Eccles. 8.
4.
To be affected by; to perceive mentally; as, to feel grief or woe.
Would I had never trod this English earth, or felt the flatteies that grow upon it.
5.
To know; to be acquainted with; to have a real and just view of.
For then, and not till then, he felt himself.
6.
To touch; to handle; with or without of.
Feel this piece of silk, or feel of it.
To feel, or to feel out, is to try; to sound; to search for; to explore; as, to feel or feel out one's opinions or designs.
To feel after, to search for; to seek to find; to seek as a person groping in the dark.
If haply they might feel after him, and find him. Acts 18.

FEEL

, v.i.
1.
To have perception by the touch, or by the contact of any substance with the body.
2.
To have the sensibility or the passions moved or excited. The good man feels for the woes of others.
3.
To give perception; to excite sensation.
Blind men say black feels rough, and white feels smooth.
So, we say, a thing feels soft or hard, or it feels hot or cold.
4.
To have perception mentally; as, to feel hurt; to feel grieved; to feel unwilling.

FEEL

,
Noun.
The sense of feeling, or the perception caused by the touch. The difference of tumors may be ascertained by the feel. Argillaceous stones may sometimes be known by the feel. [In America, feeling is more generally used; but the use of feel is not uncommon.]

Definition 2024


feel

feel

See also: fëel

English

Verb

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

  1. (heading) To use the sense of touch.
    1. (transitive, copulative) To become aware of through the skin; to use the sense of touch on.
      You can feel a heartbeat if you put your fingers on your breast.
      I felt cold and miserable all night.
    2. (transitive) To find one's way (literally or figuratively) by touching or using cautious movements.
      I felt my way through the darkened room.
      I felt my way cautiously through the dangerous business maneuver.
    3. (intransitive) To receive information by touch or by any neurons other than those responsible for sight, smell, taste, or hearing.
    4. (intransitive) To search by sense of touch.
      He felt for the light switch in the dark.
  2. (heading) To sense or think emotionally or judgmentally.
    1. (transitive) To experience an emotion or other mental state about.
      I can feel the sadness in his poems.
      • Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
        Teach me to feel another's woe.
      • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterI:
        Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile ; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.
      • 2013 August 10, Lexington, Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
        British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.
    2. (transitive) To think, believe, or have an impression concerning.
      I feel that we need to try harder.
      • William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
        Garlands [] which I feel / I am not worthy yet to wear.
      • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess:
        When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. He had him gripped firmly by the arm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him.
    3. (intransitive, copulative) To experience an emotion or other mental state.
      He obviously feels strongly about it.
      She felt even more upset when she heard the details.
      • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
        Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.
    4. (intransitive) To sympathise; to have the sensibilities moved or affected.
      I feel for you and your plight.
  3. (transitive) To be or become aware of.
  4. (transitive) To experience the consequences of.
    Feel my wrath!
  5. (copulative) To seem (through touch or otherwise).
    It looks like wood, but it feels more like plastic.
    This is supposed to be a party, but it feels more like a funeral!
  6. (transitive, US, slang) To understand.
    I don't want you back here, ya feel me?
Usage notes
  • Most prescriptive grammarians prefer "I feel bad" to "I feel badly", but "I feel badly" is widely used in US English.
  • Badly is sometimes used after feel in its copulative sense where one might expect an adjective, i.e., bad.
  • Some users use badly when referring to an emotional state, and bad when referring to a more physical or medical state.
  • Adjectives to which "feel" is often applied as a copula: free, cold, cool, warm, hot, young, old, good, great, fine, happy, glad, satisfied, excited, bad, depressed, unhappy, sad, blue, sorry, smart, stupid, loved, appreciated, accepted, rejected, lonely, isolated, insulted, offended, slighted, cheated, shy, refreshed, tired, exhausted, calm, relaxed, angry, annoyed, frustrated, anxious, worried, jealous, proud, confident, safe, grateful, uncomfortable, unsafe, insecure, desperate, guilty, ashamed, disappointed, dirty, odd, strange, ill, sick.
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

feel (plural feels)

  1. A quality of an object experienced by touch.
    Bark has a rough feel.
  2. A vague mental impression.
    You should get a feel of the area before moving in.
  3. An act of fondling.
    She gave me a quick feel to show that she loves me.
  4. A vague understanding.
    I'm getting a feel for what you mean.
  5. An intuitive ability.
    She has a feel for music.
  6. (chiefly US, slang) Alternative form of feeling.
    I know that feel.
Derived terms
Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: hour · air · reason · #369: feel · behind · sn · really

Anagrams

Etymology 2

From Middle English feele, fele, feole, from Old English fela, feala, feolo (much, many), from Proto-Germanic *felu (very, much), from Proto-Indo-European *pélu- (many). Cognate with Scots fele (much, many, great), Dutch veel (much, many), German viel (much, many), Latin plūs (more), Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, many). Related to full.

Pronoun

feel

  1. (dialectal or obsolete) Alternative form of fele

Adjective

feel (not comparable)

  1. (dialectal or obsolete) Alternative form of fele

Adverb

feel (not comparable)

  1. (dialectal or obsolete) Alternative form of fele

North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian fēla.

Verb

feel

  1. (Föhr-Amrum) to feel

Old Catalan

Etymology

From Latin fidēlem (faithful).

Adjective

feel

  1. faithful

Seri

Noun

feel (plural feeloj)

  1. mallard, Anas platyrhynchos