hand-feed

[ hand-feed ]

verb (used with object)

, hand-fed, hand-feed·ing.

1. Agriculture. to feed (animals) with apportioned amounts at regular intervals. Compare self-feed.
2. to feed (an animal or person) by hand:

   The students hand-fed the baby monkeys with an eyedropper.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hand-feed¹

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

Watch the scuba diver hand feed giant turtles, sting rays and even the menacing moray eels in the Hawaiian Reef Tank.

From Project Gutenberg

Try and grow a bit of hand-feed for your cows as a stand-by, no matter how good a dairying district you're in.

From Project Gutenberg

He carried the slop-buckets to the pigsty for her, and helped to poddy (hand feed) a young calf.

From Project Gutenberg

The test for range can be carried out by any ordinary hand-feed lamp.

From Project Gutenberg

All portable stage lamps are hand feed and require close attention on the part of operators.

From Project Gutenberg