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feeder

 [fee-der]   Origin

feed·er

   [fee-der]
noun
1.
a person or thing that supplies food or feeds something.
2.
a bin or boxlike device from which farm animals may eat, especially such a device designed to allow a number of chickens to feed simultaneously or to release a specific amount of feed at regular intervals.
3.
a person or thing that takes food or nourishment.
4.
a livestock animal that is fed an enriched diet to fatten it for market. Compare stocker (def. 2).
5.
a person or device that feeds a machine, printing press, etc.
EXPAND
6.
a tributary stream.
7.
bird feeder.
8.
feeder line.
9.
feeder road.
10.
Also, feed. Electricity. a conductor, or group of conductors, connecting primary equipment in an electric power system.
11.
British. a baby's bib.
12.
Theater Slang. straight man.
COLLAPSE
adjective
13.
being, functioning as, or serving as a feeder.
14.
pertaining to livestock to be fattened for market.

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Feeder is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English; see feed, -er1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To feeder
Collins
World English Dictionary
feeder (ˈfiːdə)
 
—n
1.  a person or thing that feeds or is fed
2.  a child's feeding bottle or bib
3.  chiefly (US), (Canadian) agriculture a head of livestock being fattened for slaughter
4.  a person or device that feeds the working material into a system or machine
5.  a tributary channel, esp one that supplies a reservoir or canal with water
6.  a.  a road, service, etc, that links secondary areas to the main traffic network
 b.  (as modifier): a feeder bus
7.  a.  a transmission line connecting an aerial to a transmitter or receiver
 b.  a power line for transmitting electrical power from a generating station to a distribution network

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

feeder
early 15c., one who feeds an animal; 1560s, one who eats; agent noun from feed. Of cattle and streams, by 1790s; of roads and railroads, by 1850s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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