In high or full feather, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Elated; brilliant;
conspicuous.
1852. H. B. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ch. viii. Sam was in the
highest possible feather, and expressed his exultation by all sorts
of supernatural howls and ejaculations.
1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-Days, pt. II., ch. iv. Martin
leads the way in high feather; it is quite a new sensation to him,
getting companions, and he finds it very pleasant, and means to
show them all manner of proofs of his science and skill.
To feather one’s nest, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To amass money;
specifically to enrich oneself by indirect pickings and emoluments.
[From birds collecting feathers (see also sense 2) to line their
nests.]
1590. Greene, Francesco’s Fortunes, in wks., viii., 138. She sees
thou hast fethred thy nest, and hast crowns in thy purse.
1662. Pepys, Diary, 7 June. Mr. Coventry had already feathered his
nest in selling of places.
1700. Congreve, Way of the World, Act v., Sc. 1. You have forgot
this, have you, now you have feather’d your nest.
1705. Vanbrugh, Confederacy, I., ii., 25 (1734). If I don’t feather
my nest, and get a good husband, I deserve to die.
1858. G. Eliot, Janet’s Repentance, ch. xiii. Dempster must have
feathered his nest pretty well; he can afford to lose a little
business.
To feather an oar, verb. phr. (aquatics).—In rowing, to turn the blade
horizontally, with the upper edge pointing aft, as it leaves the water,
for the purpose of lessening the resistance of the air upon it.
d. 1814. Dibdin, The Waterman. He feathered his oars with such
skill and dexterity, Winning each heart and delighting each eye.
Whence High or Low in the feather.
1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 5. The swells
in high feather.
1878. Lang, Ballad of the Boat-race. They catch the stroke and they
slog it through, With Cambridge heavy and low in the feather, The
standing sin of the fair Light Blue.
To show the white feather, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To turn cur; to
prove oneself a coward. [Among game cocks a cross-bred bird is known by
a white feather in the tail. Of old the breed was strictly preserved in
England, for though birds of all descriptions were reared in the
farm-yard, special care was taken that game fowls did not mix with
them; but this would occasionally happen, and while the game birds were
only red and black, white feathers would naturally appear when there
was any cross. The slightest impurity of strain was said to destroy the
bird’s courage, and the half-breeds were never trained for the pit. It
became an adage that any cock would fight on his own dunghill, but it
must be one without a white feather to fight in the pit.]
1842. Comic Almanack, p. 306. Precluding the possibility of anyone,
at any time, showing a white feather.
Feather-bed and Pillows, subs. phr. (venery).—A fat woman.
Feather-bed Lane, subs. phr. (old).—A rough or stony lane.
Feather-bed Soldier, subs. phr. (old colloquial).—A practised and
determined whoremonger.
Feck, verb (old).—To discover the safe way of stealing or swindling.
1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, p. 106, s.v.
Feed, subs. (colloquial).—A meal; spread (q.v.), or blow-out (q.v.).
Fr., une lampie (from lamper = to gulp down). [From the stable usage =
an allowance of provender. An analogue, however, is found in Milton:
‘For such pleasures till that hour At feed or fountain never had I
found.’]
1830. Bulwer Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 22, ed. 1854. Like most
single men, being very much the gentlemen so far as money was
concerned, he gave them plenty of feeds, and from time to time a
very agreeable hop.
1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘C. Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. III., p. 90
(q.v.).
1861. A. Trollope, Framley Parsonage, chap. iii.... It’s deuced
shabby of him, not hunting here in his own county. He escapes all
the bore of going to lectures, and giving feeds to the neighbours;
that’s why he treats us so.
1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. xxxiii. He had been
accustomed to describe Mr. Schröder as ‘a good old cock, sir; a
worthy old party; kind-hearted, and all that, and giving no end of
good feeds.’
18(?). Bret Harte, The Man of no Account. When the ‘Skyscraper’ arrived
at San Francisco we had a grand feed.
1883. G. A. S[ala], in Illustr. L. News, 7 July, p. 3, col. 1. To
be able to escape from a large public feed is, indeed, a sweet
boon; but there are some big dinners at which attendance is a case
of ‘must.’
Verb (football).—1. To support; back up.