n. One who or that which feeds, or supplies food or nourishment.n. One who furnishes incentives; an encourager.n. One who or an animal that eats or takes nourishment.n. A servant or dependent supported by his lord; a parasite.n. One who fattens cattle for slaughter.n. That which feeds or supplies; anything that serves for the conveyance of material or supplies to, or furnishes communication with, something else: as, great rivers are valuable feeders of commerce; cross-roads and lanes are feeders to the highway.n. Specifically— A fountain. stream, or channel that supplies a main canal with water.n. A branch or side railroad running into and increasing the business of the main line.n. In mining, a branch or spur falling into the main lode, and appearing to add to its width or richness; a dropper.n. Any device or contrivance for delivering to a machine the feed or materials to be operated upon, as the apron of a carder, the feed-wheel of a sewing-machine, the feeding device of a saw-mill, rail-machine, grain-mill, etc.n. In organ-building, a small oblique bellows placed under (occasionally apart from) the large horizontal storage-bellows, and used to furnish air to the latter. The mechanical power is applied to the feeder, not to the bellows proper, though the steadiness and pressure of the wind depend solely upon the size and weighting of the latter.n. In theat. cant, a subordinate role written to bring out the peculiarities of an important part.n. One who feeds a machine, as a printing-press: as, pressmen and feeders. See feeding, 4.n. In entomology, one of the organs composing the mouth-parts or trophi.n. n. The player who tosses the ball to the batsman (in rounders and similar games); hence, the name of a particular game resembling rounders.
