feather
noun
[ ˈfɛðə ]
• any of the flat appendages growing from a bird's skin and forming its plumage, consisting of a partly hollow horny shaft fringed with vanes of barbs.
• "the waxwing has very bright feathers and a prominent crest"
Similar:
plume,
quill,
plumage,
feathering,
down,
eider (down),
hackles,
crest,
tuft,
topknot,
pinion,
covert,
remex,
rectrix,
plumule,
semi-plume,
vibrissae,
flag,
feather
verb
• rotate the blades of (a propeller) about their own axes in such a way as to lessen the air or water resistance.
• float or move like a feather.
• "the green fronds feathered against a blue sky"
• blend or smooth delicately.
• "feather the paint in, in a series of light strokes"
• (of ink, lipstick, etc.) separate into tiny lines after application.
• "the ink started to feather and smudge"
• short for feather cut.
Origin:
Old English fether, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch veer and German Feder, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit patra ‘wing’, Latin penna ‘feather’, and Greek pteron, pterux ‘wing’.
