feather 
I am not of that feather, to shake off 
My friend when he must need me. 
fihak., T. of A., i. 1. 
For both of you are birds of self-same feather. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ill. 3. 
5. In sporting, birds collectively; fowls: as, 
fur, fin, and feather. 
He [the Scotch terrier] maybe induced tohunt/eofAer; 
he never takes to it like fur, and prefers vermin to game 
at all times. Dogs of Great Britain and America, p. 72. 
6. Among confectioners, one of the degrees in 
boiling sugar, preceded by the blow, and fol- 
lowed by the ball. 
After passing the degree of feather, sugar is inclined to 
grain or candy. Workshop Receipts, 2d ser., p. 152. 
7. Something as light as a feather; hence, 
something very unimportant; a trifle. 
Thus oft it haps that, when within 
They shrink at sense of secret sin, 
A feather daunts the brave. 
Scott, Marmion, iii. 14. 
A sort of feather tossed about by whatever breeze hap- 
pens to blow a straw on the current of things ! 
W. M. Baker, New Timothy, p. 95. 
8. In rowing, the act of feathering. See fea- 
ther, v. t., 6. A feather In one's cap, an honor or mark 
of distinction : said of something striking or unexpected 
that brings credit or attracts favorable notice. .Auricu- 
lar feathers. See auricular. Axillary feathers. See 
axillar, n. Birds of a feather. See bird i . Capillary 
feather, a flloplume or hair-feather. Contour feather. 
See contour-feather. Covert-feather, any feather of the 
wing- or tail-coverts. See covert, n., 6. Deck-feather, 
one of the pair of middle tail-feathers which overlie the 
rest when the tail ia closed, and are often conspicuously 
different from them in size, shape, or color. Down 
feather. See down-feather. Dust-feather, a pulvi- 
plume; one of certain peculiar down-feathers of a dusty, 
scurfy, or greasy character, occurring in patches in some 
birds, especially herons. Feather oil-gland, the uro- 
pygial gland, or elseodochon. See elceodocnon. Feather- 
tract, a pteryla. Flight-feather, one of the large quill- 
feathers which form most of the extent of a bird's wing 
and which are essential to flight ; a quill of the wing ; a 
rowing-feather ; a reinex. (See remex.) The goose-quill 
for writing is a flight-feather. Flight-feathers are divided 
into primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries or tertials, ac- 
cording to their sites on the wing. See cut under birdi. 
Hair-feather, a flloplume or thread-feather. Half-fea- 
ther, a semiplume, in structure intermediate between a 
plume and a plunmla. See def. 1. In full feather, 
not molting ; in full plumage ; figuratively, well supplied 
with money. In high feather, in high spirits; elated. 
I have seen him, though in high feather and high talk 
when in a sunny chamber, if transferred to a badly- 
lighted room, withdraw in a corner and sit by himself in 
moody silence. Actors and Actresses, I. 206. 
Metallic feather, a feather with a metallic gloss, 
sheen, or glitter; an iridescent feather. Some of them, 
as in humming-birds, etc., are often described as metal- 
lic scales. Pennaceous, plumaceous, plumulaceous 
feather. See def. I. Pin-feather, an ungrown feather, 
before the vanes have expanded, and while the barrel is 
filled with a dark bloody or serous fluid. In the later 
stage the future webs may be seen sprouting from the 
end of the quill like a pencil or brush. Powder-down 
feather, a pulviplume or dust-feather. Prince of 
Wales's feathers, the crest of the Prince of Wales, con- 
sisting of three ostrich-plumes, with the motto Ich dien 
(I serve). It was first borne by Edward the Black Prince. 
Quill-feather, a large pennaceous feather with a stout 
barrel or quill, which is or may be used for writing; a 
quill. The large flight- and rudder-feathers of the wings 
and tail are of this kind. Rowing- feather, a flight- 
feather or remex. Rudder-feather, a quill-feather of 
the tail, which steers a bird's flight ; a rectrix. Thread- 
feather, a feather of nloplumaceous structure ; a fllo- 
plume. To cut a feather. See cut To drive fea- 
thers. See drii>. White feather, the symbol of cow- 
ardice : a phrase introduced in the days when cock-flghting 
was in repute. As the game-cock of the strain in vogue 
had no white feathers, a white feather was taken as a 
proof that a bird was not game. Generally used in such 
phrases as to show the white feather, to have a white fea- 
ther in one's wing, meaning to show cowardice, to behave 
like a coward. 
"He has a white feather in his wing this same West- 
burnflat after a'," said Simon of Hackburn, somewhat 
scandalized by his ready surrender. "He'll ne'er fill his 
father's boots." Scoff, Black Dwarf, ix. 
feather (feTH'er), u. [< M.E.fetheren,fethren, 
fedren, usually in pp. fethered, rarely ' fly,' pro- 
vided with feathers, < AS. ge-fetheran, ge-fe- 
thran (prop. *ge-fetherian, *ge-fethrian), usually 
ge-fitherian, ge-fytherian, ge-flthrian, give wings, 
provide with wings (= OHG. pp. ge-fidarit, 
MHG. ge-videret, G. ge-fiedert = Sw. befjadrat 
= ODan. befedret, Dan. befjedret), < fether, a 
feather, pi. wings, fithere, wing: see feather, .] 
1. trans. 1. To coyer with feathers ; hence, to 
cover with something resembling feathers. 
And of his yeen the sighte I kneuhe a-uoou, 
Which fedired was with righte humble requestes. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 56. 
On the night of 22d May, 1882, a number of them [the 
neighboring Christian settlers] dragged [Joseph] Smith and 
Bigdon from their beds and tarred and feathered them. 
Encyc. Brit., XVI. 826. 
2. To adorn ; enrich or advantage ; exalt. 
[Bare.] 
2164 
They stuck not to say, that the king cared not to plume 
his nobility and people, to feather himself. 
Bacon, Hist. Hen. VII., p. 111. 
3. To fit with a feather or feathers, as an arrow. 
He hath plucked her doves and sparrows, 
To feather his sharp arrows. 
B. Jonson, Poetaster, iv. 1. 
Nonsense, feathered with soft and delicate phrases, and 
pointed with pathetick accents. 
Dr. Scott, Works (1718), II. 124. 
4. To tread: said of acock. 5. To join by tongu- 
ing and grooving, as boards. 6. In rowing, to 
turn the blade of (an oar) nearly horizontally, 
with the upper edge pointing toward the bow, 
as it leaves the water, so that the water runs 
off it in a feathery form, for the purpose of les- 
sening the resistance of the air upon it, and de- 
creasing the danger of catching the water as 
it is moved back into position for a new stroke. 
To feather one's (own) nest, to make one's self a 
comfortable place ; gather wealth, particularly while act- 
ing in a fiduciary capacity. 
He had contrived in his lustre of agitation to feather his 
next pretty successfully. Disraeli, Coningsby, iv. 6. 
II. intrans. 1. To have or produce the ap- 
pearance or form of a feather or feathers, as 
the ripples at the bow of a moving vessel. See 
feather-spray. 
Her full-busted figure-head 
Stared o'er the ripple feathering from her bows. 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
The moss was in abundant life, some feathering, and 
some gobleted, and some with fringe of red to it. 
R. D. Blackmore, Lorna Doone, xix. 
2. To be or become feathery in appearance ; 
appear thin or feathery by contrast. 
Just where the prone edge of the wood began 
To feather toward the hollow. 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
3. In rowing, to let the water drop off in a fea- 
thery spray, as the blade of an oar when turned 
nearly horizontally on leaving the water. 
Thereof hering oar returns the gleam. Tickell. 
To feather out, to become covered with feathers, as 
young birds, or with anything resembling them, as fea- 
thery foliage : as, the chickens, or the willows, are be- 
ginning to feather out. 
feather-alum (feTH'er-al'um), . Same as alu- 
nogen. 
feather-bearer (feTH'er-bar'er), n. A plume- 
moth ; one of the I'terophoridte. 
feather-bed (feTH'er-bed'), . [< HE.fetherbed, 
federbed, < AS. fetherbed (= D. vederbed = G. 
federbett), < fether, feather, + bed, bedd, bed.] 
1. A bed made of feathers; a mattress filled 
with feathers ; a soft bed. 
Now take frae me that feather-bed, 
Make me a bed o' strae ! 
Auld Maitland (Child's Ballads, VI. 231). 
2. The feather-poke, a small bird of the genus 
Phylloscopus, as the willow-warbler, P. trochi- 
lus, or chiff-chaff, P. rufus: so called because 
it uses feathers in making its nest. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
feather-bird (feTH'er-berd), n. The white- 
throat, Sylvia cinerea : so called because it uses 
feathers in building its nest. [Eng.] 
feather-bladest (feTH'er-bladz), . pi. The 
deep serrations into which the edges of gar- 
ments, banners, etc., were cut during the mid- 
dle ages for decorative effects. Compare dag&. 
feather-boarding (feTH'er-bor'ding), . A 
kind of boarding in which the edge of one board 
overlaps a small part of the board below it. 
When used in buildings, commonly called wea- 
ther-boarding. 
featherbone (feTH'er-bon), n. A substitute for 
whalebone, made from the quills of domestic 
fowls. The quills are slit into strips, which are twisted, 
and the resulting cords are wrapped together and pressed. 
featherbrain (feTH'er-bran), n. A weak- 
minded, giddy, or unbalanced person. 
feather-brained (feTH'er-brand), a. Having 
a weak, empty brain ; light-headed ; frivolous ; 
giddy. Also feather-headed, feather-pated. 
To SL feather-brained school-girl nothing is sacred. 
Charlotte Bronte, Villette, xx. 
feather-cloth (feTH'er-kldth), n. A woolen 
cloth into which feathers are woven, it is warm 
and resists water well, but has an unfinished appearance, 
from the irregular protrusion of the ends of the feathers. 
Diet, of Needlework. 
feathercockt (feTH'er-kok), n. A coxcomb. 
Thou wouldest make me one of Diomedes or Antiphanes 
scholler, in imitating of these Ganimedes, finicall, spruce- 
ones, muskats, syrenists, feathercockes, vainglorious, a 
cage for crickits. Benoenuto, Passengers' Dialogues (1612). 
feathered (fe^H'erd), p. a. [< ME. fethered, 
federed, < AS. flthered (= Dan. fjeret), pp. of 
fitherian, feather: see feather, .] 1. Rivaling 
a bird in speed ; winged. [Poetical and rare.] 
feathering 
In feather 'd briefness sails are fill'd, 
And wishes fall out as they're will'd. 
Shak., Pericles, v. 2. 
2. In entom., having parallel rays or branches, 
like the web of a feather ; strongly pectinate : 
applied to the antennse when the joints give 
out long branches on one or two sides, as in 
many moths. 3. In bot., same as feathery, 3. 
4. Fitted or furnished with a feather or fea- 
thers : as, a feathered arrow : used specifically 
in heraldry when the feathers are of a different 
tincture from the shaft : as, azure, feathered or. 
5. Fringed with hair : said of certain breeds 
of dogs. 
Both hind and forelegs are v/e\\ feathered, but not pro- 
fusely. Dogs of Great Britain and America, p. 107. 
Feathered columbine. See columbine?. Feathered 
troll. See Irull. 
feather-edge (feTH'er-ej), . An edge as thin 
as a feather ; the thinner edge, as of a board or 
plank ; the shallow edge of the furrow of a mill- 
stone, etc . Feather -edge boards. See feather-edged. 
Feather-edge file. See/M. 
feather-edge (feTH'er-ej), v. t. [< feather-edge, 
n.] To cut away to a thin or beveled edge; 
produce a feather-edge upon, as on leather or 
other material. 
A small shaving from the flesh side is taken off by a 
feather-edging machine. Harper's Mag., LXX. 282. 
The boards were carefully feather-edged and lapped, so 
that it was perfectly impervious to rain. 
Thoreau, Walden, p. 49. 
feather-edged (feTH'er-ejd), a. 1. Having a 
thin edge. 2. Having an ornamental edging 
composed of loops or tufts : said of ribbons. 
Feather-edged boards, boards made thin on one edge. 
They are used to form the facings of wooden walls, as 
those of cottages, outhouses, etc., and are placed with the 
thick edge uppermost and the thin edge overlapping a 
part of the next lower board. See clapboard. Feather- 
edged brick, coping, etc. See the nouns. 
feathered-shot, n. See feather-shot. 
featherfew (feTH'er-fu), . A corruption of 
feverfew. [Prov. Eng.] 
feather-fisher (feTH'Ir-fish'er), n. An angler 
who uses artificial flies (often made of feathers) 
as lures : a fly-fisher. [Rare.] 
feather-flower (feTH'er-flou"er), n. An artifi- 
cial flower made of feathers or of parts of the 
feathered skin of small birds. 
featherfoil (feTH'er-foil), . The water-violet, 
species of Hottonia : so called from the finely 
divided leaves. 
feather-footed (feTE'er-fut'ed), a. Having 
feathered feet ; rough-footed. [Rare.] 
feather-gloryt (feTH'er-gl6' i 'ri), n. Glory that 
is trifling or of no account. 
Glory, not like ours here, feather -glory, but true, that 
hath weight and substance in it. 
Bp. Andrews, Sermons, I. xxxl. 
feather-grass (feTH'er-gras), . 1. The Stipa 
pennata of southern Europe : so named from its 
long plumose awns. 2. In Jamaica, the Chlo- 
ris polydactyla. 
featherhead (feTH'er-hed), n. A light, giddy, 
frivolous person ; atrifler; a featherbrain. 
Show the dullest clodpole, show the haughtiest feather- 
head, that a soul higher than himself is actually here : 
were his knees stiffened into brass, he must down and 
worship. Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, p. 174. 
feather-headed (feTH'er-hed"ed), a. Same as 
feather-brained. 
Ah ! thou hast miss'd a man (but that he is so bewitch 'd 
to his study, and knows no other mistress than his mind) 
so far above this feather-headed puppy. 
Gibber, Love Makes a Man, ii. 
feather-heeled (feTH'er-held), a. Light-heeled. 
featheriness (feTH'er-i-nes), . The state of 
being feathery. 
There is such a levity and featheriness in our minds, 
such a mutability and inconstancy in our hearts. 
Bates, Sure Trial of Uprightness. 
feathering (feTH'er-ing), . [Verbal n. of fea- 
ther, v.~\ 1. Plumage. 
O waly, waly, my gay goss-hawk. 
Gin your feathering be sheen I 
The Gay Qois-Hawk (Child's Ballads, III. 277). 
2. The adjustment of feathers to an arrow, 
whether shaft or bolt. See arrow, vireton. 
This king [Henry V. of England] directed the sheriffs of 
counties to take six wing- feathers from every goose for the 
feathering of arrows. Encyc. Brit., II. 372. 
3. In arch., 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; folia- 
tion. See cusp. 4. Same as feather, 2 (h). 
His [the Irish setter's] coat is short, flat, soft to the 
touch, and, where it extends into what is technically 
known as feathering, is like spun silk in quality. 
The Century, XXXI. 121. 
