feather
noun /ˈfeðə(r)/
/ˈfeðər/
Idioms - one of the many soft light parts covering a bird’s body
enlarge image- a peacock feather
- tail/flight/wing feathers
- a feather pillow (= one containing feathers)
Extra ExamplesTopics Birdsb2- I had to pluck the dead hen's feathers.
- Its feathers were ruffled by the chill breeze.
- The chicks have grown their adult feathers.
- The owl fluffed out its feathers.
- a fledgling with new flight feathers
- a swan preening its feathers
- the downy feathers on the duck's breast
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- breast
- neck
- tail
- …
- preen
- fluff
- fluff out
- …
- bed
- mattress
- pillow
- …
- as light as a feather
Word OriginOld 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’.
Idioms
birds of a feather (flock together)
- (saying) people of the same sort (are found together)
a feather in your cap
- an action that you can be proud of
ruffle somebody’s/a few feathers
- (informal) to annoy or upset somebody or a group of people
- The senator's speech ruffled a few feathers in the business world.
smooth (somebody’s) ruffled feathers
- to make somebody feel less angry or offended
you could have knocked me down with a feather
- (informal) used to express surprise