feel

• IPA^(key): /fiːl/, [fiːɫ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːl

From Middle English felen, from Old English fēlan, from Proto-West Germanic *fōlijan.[1]

feel (third-person singular simple present feels, present participle feeling, simple past and past participle felt)

1. (heading) To use or experience the sense of touch.
   1. (transitive, copulative) To become aware of through the skin; to use the sense of touch on.

      You can feel a heartbeat if you put your fingers on your breast.

      I felt cold and miserable all night.

   2. (transitive) To find one's way (literally or figuratively) by touching or using cautious movements.

      I felt my way through the darkened room.

      I felt my way cautiously through the dangerous business maneuver.

   3. (intransitive) To receive information by touch or by any neurons other than those responsible for sight, smell, taste, or hearing.
   4. (intransitive) To search by sense of touch.

      He felt for the light switch in the dark.

2. (heading) To sense or think emotionally or judgmentally.
   1. (transitive) To experience an emotion or other mental state about.

      I can feel the sadness in his poems.

      • 1738, [Alexander Pope], “Stanza X”, in The Universal Prayer. […], London [actually Edinburgh]: […] [Thomas Ruddiman] for R[obert] Dodsley, […], OCLC 877314508, page 6:

        Teach me to feel another's VVoe; / To hide the Fault I ſee; / That Mercy I to others ſhovv, / That Mercy ſhow to me.

      • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314:

        Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile ; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.

      • 2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

        British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.

   2. (transitive) To think, believe, or have an impression concerning.

      I feel that we need to try harder.

      • 1613, William Shakespeare; [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene ii]:

        They promised me eternal happiness; And brought me garlands, Griffith, which I feel I am not worthy yet to wear.

      • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter XIX, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, OCLC 483591931:

        When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. He had him gripped firmly by the arm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him.

   3. (intransitive, copulative) To experience an emotion or other mental state.

      He obviously feels strongly about it.

      She felt even more upset when she heard the details.

      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:

        Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.

   4. (intransitive) To sympathise; to have the sensibilities moved or affected.

      I feel for you and your plight.

      • 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], OCLC 946162345:

        [She] feels with the dignity of a Roman matron.

      • 1738, Alexander Pope, Epilogue to the Satires

        who feel for all mankind

3. (transitive) To be or become aware of.
4. (transitive) To experience the consequences of.

   Feel my wrath!

5. (copulative) To seem (through touch or otherwise).

   It looks like wood, but it feels more like plastic.

   This is supposed to be a party, but it feels more like a funeral!

6. (transitive, US, slang) To understand.

   I don't want you back here, ya feel me?

   • 2002, “Work It”, in Under Construction, performed by Missy Elliott:

     Shoot, errbody have the zipper jacket / And half of these thugs have the glove to match, ya feel me?

• When referring to the emotional state, most prescriptive grammarians prefer "I feel bad" to "I feel badly", but "I feel badly" is widely used this way in US English.
• In senses 2, 3, and 5, this is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous inflection. See Category:English stative verbs

feel (plural feels)

1. (archaic) The sense of touch.
   • 1838, John Burns, The Principles of Surgery, volume 1, page 330:

     It begins as a firm elastic swelling, which communicates to the feel the idea that a fluid is contained under a firm fascia […]

2. A perception experienced mainly or solely through the sense of touch.

   Bark has a rough feel.

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

     And then something in the sound or the feel of the waters made him look down, and he perceived that the ebb had begun and the tide was flowing out to sea.

   • 2010, Nathan Bowers, 4-H Guide to Training Horses (page 111)

     The unshanked snaffle bit is good for bending and getting a horse used to the feel of a bit.

3. A vague mental impression.

   You should get a feel for the area before moving in.

   • 2010, Wilson, Paul, “Khotan (Hetian)”, in The Silk Roads: A Route & Planning Guide‎ (Travel), 3rd edition, Trailblazer Publications, →ISBN, OCLC 719893583, page 379:

     You can arrange camel trips into the desert but to really get a feel for this allow yourself a couple of extra days and be prepared for what at times can be an uncomfortable journey: Xuan Zang tells us that as he left Khotan he was ‘attacked by tornados which bring with them clouds of flying gravel’.

4. An act of fondling.

   She gave me a quick feel to show that she loves me.

5. A vague understanding.

   I'm getting a feel for what you mean.

6. An intuitive ability.

   She has a feel for music.

7. (chiefly US, slang) A feeling; an emotion.

   I know that feel.

• → Korean: 삘 (ppil)

See fele.

feel

1. (dialectal or obsolete) Alternative form of fele

feel (not comparable)

1. (dialectal or obsolete) Alternative form of fele

feel (not comparable)

1. (dialectal or obsolete) Alternative form of fele

• elfe, fele, flee, leef

From English feel.

feel (Hong Kong Cantonese)

1. emotional attraction or desire

   佢好似對你有feel喎。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   佢好似对你有feel㖞。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   keoi⁵ hou² ci⁵ deoi³ nei⁵ jau⁵ fiu¹ wo³. [Jyutping]

   He seems to have some feelings for you.

2. vibe; atmosphere

feel (Hong Kong Cantonese)

1. to sense

   有冇人feel到有地震？ [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   jau⁵ mou⁵ jan⁴ fiu¹ dou^3-2 jau⁵ dei⁶ zan³? [Jyutping]

   Could anyone feel the earthquake?

2. to experience or understand the mental state of others

   我feel到佢做嘢好畀心機。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   我feel到佢做嘢好畀心机。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   ngo⁵ fiu¹ dou^3-2 keoi⁵ zou⁶ je⁵ hou² bei² sam¹ gei¹. [Jyutping]

   I could tell that he has devoted a lot of effort into his work.

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese

feel

1. Alternative form of fele (“many”)

From Old Frisian fēla.

feel

1. (Föhr-Amrum) to feel

Inherited from Latin fidēlem (“faithful”). Replaced by the borrowing fidel in modern Catalan.

feel

1. faithful

• feal, feau, feeil, fial, fiel
• fedeil, fetheil (early)

From Latin fidēlis.

feel m (oblique and nominative feminine singular feel)

1. faithful; loyal

• Middle French: feal, fieu, foial
  • French: féal
• → Early Scots: feal, feale, feall
  • Middle Scots: feall, fiall
    • Scots: feal, feele (obsolete)
    • → English: feal

feel (plural feeloj)

1. mallard, Anas platyrhynchos