English
feel
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /fiːl/, [fiːɫ]
Etymology 1

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

Verb

feel (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 ↗, 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 ↗:
        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.
    2. (transitive) To think, believe, or have an impression concerning.
      I feel that we need to try harder.
      • 1613 (date written), 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 ↗, [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 ↗:
        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 ↗:
        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 ↗:
        [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?
Conjugation
Conjugation of feel

infinitive (to) feel
present tense past tense
1st-person singular feel felt
2nd-person singular

 feel, feelest†

 felt, feltst†, feltest†
3rd-person singular

 feels, feeleth†

 felt
plural

 feel

subjunctive

 feel

felt
imperative

 feel

—
participles

 feeling

 felt

†Archaic or obsolete.

Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Noun

feel (plural feels)

  1. (archaic) The sense of touch.
  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.
  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.
Translations
  • German: expressed verbally with anfühlen; (formal, specialist) Oberflächenbeschaffenheit, Haptik
  • Portuguese: tato
  • Spanish: tacto
Translations Translations Translations Translations Etymology 2

See fele.

Pronoun
  1. (dialectal or obsolete) Alternative form of fele
Adjective

feel (not comparable)

  1. (dialectal or obsolete) Alternative form of fele
Adverb

feel (not comparable)

  1. (dialectal or obsolete) Alternative form of fele


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