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Feeling

 - 11 dictionary results

feel⋅ing

  [fee-ling]
Use Feeling in a Sentence
–noun
1. the function or the power of perceiving by touch.
2. physical sensation not connected with sight, hearing, taste, or smell.
3. a particular sensation of this kind: a feeling of warmth; a feeling of pain.
4. the general state of consciousness considered independently of particular sensations, thoughts, etc.
5. a consciousness or vague awareness: a feeling of inferiority.
6. an emotion or emotional perception or attitude: a feeling of joy; a feeling of sorrow.
7. capacity for emotion, esp. compassion: to have great feeling for the sufferings of others.
8. a sentiment; attitude; opinion: The general feeling was in favor of the proposal.
9. feelings, sensibilities; susceptibilities: to hurt one's feelings.
10. fine emotional endowment.
11. (in music, art, etc.)
a. emotion or sympathetic perception revealed by an artist in his or her work: a poem without feeling.
b. the general impression conveyed by a work: a landscape painting with a spacious feeling.
c. sympathetic appreciation, as of music: to play with feeling.
–adjective
12. sensitive; sentient.
13. readily affected by emotion; sympathetic: a feeling heart.
14. indicating or characterized by emotion: a feeling reply to the charge.
Origin:
1125–75; ME; see feel, -ing 1 , -ing 2

Related forms:
feel⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
feel⋅ing⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
5. Feeling, emotion, passion, sentiment refer to pleasurable or painful sensations experienced when one is stirred to sympathy, anger, fear, love, grief, etc. Feeling is a general term for a subjective point of view as well as for specific sensations: to be guided by feeling rather than by facts; a feeling of sadness, of rejoicing. Emotion is applied to an intensified feeling: agitated by emotion. Passion is strong or violent emotion, often so overpowering that it masters the mind or judgment: stirred to a passion of anger. Sentiment is a mixture of thought and feeling, esp. refined or tender feeling: Recollections are often colored by sentiment. 6. sympathy, empathy, tenderness, sensitivity, sentiment. 12. emotional, tender. 13. impassioned, passionate.

Antonyms:
5, 6. apathy. 12. cold.

feel

  [feel] verb, felt, feel⋅ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to perceive or examine by touch.
2. to have a sensation of (something), other than by sight, hearing, taste, or smell: to feel a toothache.
3. to find or pursue (one's way) by touching, groping, or cautious moves.
4. to be or become conscious of.
5. to be emotionally affected by: to feel one's disgrace keenly.
6. to experience the effects of: The whole region felt the storm.
7. to have a particular sensation or impression of (often used reflexively and usually fol. by an adjunct or complement): to feel oneself slighted.
8. to have a general or thorough conviction of; think; believe: I feel he's guilty.
–verb (used without object)
9. to have perception by touch or by any nerves of sensation other than those of sight, hearing, taste, and smell.
10. to make examination by touch; grope.
11. to perceive a state of mind or a condition of body: to feel happy; to feel well.
12. to have a sensation of being: to feel warm.
13. to make itself perceived or apparent; seem: How does it feel to be rich?
–noun
14. a quality of an object that is perceived by feeling or touching: the soft feel of cotton.
15. a sensation of something felt; a vague mental impression or feeling: a feel of winter; a feel of sadness in the air.
16. the sense of touch: soft to the feel.
17. native ability or acquired sensitivity: to have a feel for what is right.
18. Informal. an act or instance of touching with the hand or fingers.
19. Slang: Vulgar. an act or instance of feeling up.
—Verb phrases
20. feel for,
a. to feel sympathy for or compassion toward; empathize with: I know you're disappointed and upset, and I feel for you.
b. Southeastern Pennsylvania and Maryland. to have a liking or desire for: If you feel for more pie, just help yourself.
21. feel out, to attempt to ascertain (the nature of a situation, someone's attitude, etc.) by indirect or subtle means: Why not feel out the other neighbors' opinions before you make a complaint.
22. feel up, Slang: Vulgar. to fondle or touch (someone) in a sexual manner.
23. feel up to, Informal. to feel or be able to; be capable of: He didn't feel up to going to the theater so soon after his recent illness.
—Idioms
24. cop a feel, Slang: Vulgar. to touch another person's body sexually, often in a quick and surreptitious way.
25. feel like, Informal. to have a desire for; be favorably disposed to: I don't feel like going out tonight. Do you feel like a movie?
26. feel like oneself, to be in one's usual frame of mind or state of health: She hasn't been feeling like herself since the accident. Also, feel oneself.
27. feel no pain. pain (def. 5).
Origin:
bef. 900; ME felen, OE fēlan; c. OS fōlian, G fühlen; akin to ON falma to grope. See fumble
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Feeling
feel   (fēl)   
v.   felt (fělt), feel·ing, feels

v.   tr.

    1. To perceive through the sense of touch: feel the velvety smoothness of a peach.

    2. To perceive as a physical sensation: feel a sharp pain; feel the cold.

    3. To touch.

    4. To examine by touching. See Synonyms at touch.

    5. To undergo the experience of: felt my interest rising; felt great joy.

    6. To be aware of; sense: felt the anger of the crowd.

    7. To be emotionally affected by: She still feels the loss of her dog.

    8. To be persuaded of (something) on the basis of intuition, emotion, or other indefinite grounds: I feel that what the informant says may well be true.

    9. To believe; think: She felt his answer to be evasive.

    1. To touch.

    2. To examine by touching. See Synonyms at touch.

    3. To undergo the experience of: felt my interest rising; felt great joy.

    4. To be aware of; sense: felt the anger of the crowd.

    5. To be emotionally affected by: She still feels the loss of her dog.

    6. To be persuaded of (something) on the basis of intuition, emotion, or other indefinite grounds: I feel that what the informant says may well be true.

    7. To believe; think: She felt his answer to be evasive.

  3. To test or explore with caution: feel one's way in a new job.

    1. To undergo the experience of: felt my interest rising; felt great joy.

    2. To be aware of; sense: felt the anger of the crowd.

    3. To be emotionally affected by: She still feels the loss of her dog.

    4. To be persuaded of (something) on the basis of intuition, emotion, or other indefinite grounds: I feel that what the informant says may well be true.

    5. To believe; think: She felt his answer to be evasive.

    1. To be persuaded of (something) on the basis of intuition, emotion, or other indefinite grounds: I feel that what the informant says may well be true.

    2. To believe; think: She felt his answer to be evasive.

v.   intr.

  1. To experience sensations of touch.

    1. To produce a particular sensation, especially through the sense of touch: The sheets felt smooth.

    2. To produce a particular impression; appear to be; seem: It feels good to be home. See Usage Note at well2.

  3. To be conscious of a specified kind or quality of physical, mental, or emotional state: felt warm and content; feels strongly about the election.

  4. To seek or explore something by the sense of touch: felt for the light switch in the dark.

  5. To have compassion or sympathy: I feel for him in his troubles.

n.  

  1. Perception by or as if by touch; sensation: a feel of autumn in the air.

  2. The sense of touch: a surface that is rough to the feel.

    1. An act or instance of touching or feeling.

    2. Vulgar An act or instance of sexual touching or fondling.

  4. The nature or quality of something as perceived by or as if by the sense of touch: "power steering that seems overassisted, eliminating road feel" (Mark Ginsburg).

  5. Overall impression or effect; atmosphere: "gives such disparate pictures . . . a crazily convincing documentary feel" (Stephen King).

  6. Intuitive awareness or natural ability: has a feel for decorating.

Phrasal Verb(s):
feel outTo try cautiously or indirectly to ascertain the viewpoint or nature of.
feel up Vulgar To touch or fondle (someone) sexually.

Idiom(s):
feel in (one's) bonesTo have an intuition of.

Idiom(s):
feel like Informal To have an inclination or desire for: felt like going for a walk.

Idiom(s):
feel like (oneself)To sense oneself as being in one's normal state of health or spirits: I just don't feel like myself today.

Idiom(s):
feel (one's) oats

  1. To be energetic and playful.

  2. To act in a self-important manner.


[Middle English felen, from Old English fēlan; see pāl- in Indo-European roots.]
feel·ing   (fē'lĭng)   
n.  

    1. The sensation involving perception by touch.

    2. A sensation experienced through touch.

    3. A physical sensation: a feeling of warmth.

    4. An emotional state or disposition; an emotion: expressed deep feeling.

    5. A tender emotion; a fondness.

    6. Capacity to experience the higher emotions; sensitivity; sensibility: a man of feeling.

    7. feelings Susceptibility to emotional response; sensibilities: The child's feelings are easily hurt.

    8. Appreciative regard or understanding: a feeling for propriety.

    9. Intuitive awareness or aptitude; a feel: has a feeling for language.

  2. An affective state of consciousness, such as that resulting from emotions, sentiments, or desires: experienced a feeling of excitement.

  3. An awareness or impression: He had the feeling that he was being followed.

    1. An emotional state or disposition; an emotion: expressed deep feeling.

    2. A tender emotion; a fondness.

    3. Capacity to experience the higher emotions; sensitivity; sensibility: a man of feeling.

    4. feelings Susceptibility to emotional response; sensibilities: The child's feelings are easily hurt.

    5. Appreciative regard or understanding: a feeling for propriety.

    6. Intuitive awareness or aptitude; a feel: has a feeling for language.

    1. Capacity to experience the higher emotions; sensitivity; sensibility: a man of feeling.

    2. feelings Susceptibility to emotional response; sensibilities: The child's feelings are easily hurt.

    3. Appreciative regard or understanding: a feeling for propriety.

    4. Intuitive awareness or aptitude; a feel: has a feeling for language.

  6. Opinion based more on emotion than on reason; sentiment.

  7. A general impression conveyed by a person, place, or thing: The stuffy air gave one the feeling of being in a tomb.

    1. Appreciative regard or understanding: a feeling for propriety.

    2. Intuitive awareness or aptitude; a feel: has a feeling for language.

adj.  

  1. Having the ability to react or feel emotionally; sentient; sensitive.

  2. Easily moved emotionally; sympathetic: a feeling heart.

  3. Expressive of sensibility or emotion: a feeling glance.

feel'ing·ly adv.
Synonyms: These nouns refer to complex and usually strong subjective human response. Although feeling and emotion are sometimes interchangeable, feeling is the more general and neutral: "Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity" (William Wordsworth).
Emotion often implies the presence of excitement or agitation: "Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion" (T.S. Eliot).
Passion is intense, compelling emotion: "They seemed like ungoverned children inflamed with the fiercest passions of men" (Francis Parkman).
Sentiment often applies to a thought or opinion arising from or influenced by emotion: We expressed our sentiments about the government's policies.
The word can also refer to delicate, sensitive, or higher or more refined feelings: "The mystic reverence, the religious allegiance, which are essential to a true monarchy, are imaginative sentiments that no legislature can manufacture in any people" (Walter Bagehot). See Also Synonyms at opinion.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
feel (so)

  1. tv.
    to understand someone. : Do you feel me? If not, I'll say it again and again till you do!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

feel  (v.)
O.E. felan "to touch," from Gmc. *folijanan (cf. Du. voelen, Ger. fühlen "to feel," O.N. falma "to grope"), from PIE base *(s)pol-/*(s)pal- "to strike softly" (cf. Gk. psallein "to pluck (the harp)," L. palpare "to touch softly, stroke," palpitare "to move quickly"). The sense in O.E. was "to perceive through senses which are not referred to any special organ." Sense of "be conscious of a sensation or emotion" developed by c.1290; that of "to have sympathy or compassion" is from 1605; feeling (n.) "emotion" is first recorded 1369; feelings "tender or sensitive side of one's nature" is 1771. Noun sense of "sexual grope" is from 1932; from verbal phrase to feel (someone) up (1930).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2feel
Function: noun
1 : the sense of touch
2 : SENSATION, FEELING

Main Entry: feel·ing
Pronunciation: 'fE-li[ng]
Function: noun
1 a : the one of the basic physical senses of which the skin contains the chiefend organs and of which the sensations of touch and temperature are characteristic : TOUCH b : asensation experienced through this sense
2 : an emotional state or reaction feelings>
3 : the overall quality of one's awarenessespecially as measured along a pleasantness-unpleasantness continuum
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

feel (fēl)
v. felt (fělt), feel·ing, feels

  1. To perceive through the sense of touch.

  2. To perceive as a physical sensation, as of pain.

  3. To be conscious of a particular physical, mental, or emotional state.

feeling n.

  1. The sensation involving perception by touch.

  2. A physical sensation, as of pain.

  3. An affective state of consciousness, such as that resulting from emotions, sentiments, or desires.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia

feeling

in psychology, the perception of events within the body, closely related to emotion. The term feeling is a verbal noun denoting the action of the verb to feel, which derives etymologically from the Middle English verb felen, "to perceive by touch, by palpation." It soon came to mean, more generally, to perceive through those senses that are not referred to any special organ. As the known special organs of sense were the ones mediating the perception of the external world, the verb to feel came also to mean the perception of events within the body. Psychologists disagree on the use of the term feeling. The preceding definition accords with that of the American psychologist R.S. Woodworth, who defines the problem of feeling and emotion as that of the individual's "internal state." Many psychologists, however, still follow the German philosopher Immanuel Kant in equating feeling to states of pleasantness and unpleasantness, known in psychology as affect.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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