feathering

[ feth-er-ing ]

noun

1. a covering of feathers; plumage.
2. the arrangement of feathers on an arrow.
3. Music. a very light and delicate use of the violin bow.

ˈfeathering

/ ˈfɛðərɪŋ /

noun

1. the plumage of a bird; feathers
2. another word for feathers
3. printing
   1. an imperfection in print caused by the spreading of ink
   2. the use of additional space between lines in typesetting in order to fill the page

Other Words From

• under·feather·ing noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of feathering¹

First recorded in 1520–30; feather + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Republicans are spending the vast majority of their time tarring and feathering each other.

From The Daily Beast

Never mind that China obsessively focuses on feathering its own economic nest, often at the expense of poor nations.

From The Daily Beast

Yet Couric's tar-and-feathering may have been psychically useful to her.

From The Daily Beast

In the same vessel he adopted a feathering paddle-wheel and the guard-beam now universally seen in our river steamboats.

From Project Gutenberg

For smaller vessels, the oscillating engine with feathering paddle-wheels is still largely employed in Europe.

From Project Gutenberg

The usual arrangement is such that the feathering-wheel has the same action upon the water as a radial wheel of double diameter.

From Project Gutenberg

And each missile bore its individual message to his memory—a tiny tuft of scarlet inserted in the feathering.

From Project Gutenberg

At the last order the men levelled their oars, feathering the blades, and remained like eight statues in their seats.

From Project Gutenberg