v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Felt p. pr. & vb. n. Feeling. ] [ AS. fēlan; akin to OS. gifōlian to perceive, D. voelen to feel, OHG. fuolen, G. fühlen, Icel. fālma to grope, and prob. to AS. folm palm of the hand, L. palma. Cf. Fumble, Palm. ] 1. To perceive by the touch; to take cognizance of by means of the nerves of sensation distributed all over the body, especially by those of the skin; to have sensation excited by contact of (a thing) with the body or limbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who feel
Those rods of scorpions and those whips of steel. Creecn. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To touch; to handle; to examine by touching; as, feel this piece of silk; hence, to make trial of; to test; often with out. [ 1913 Webster ]

Come near, . . . that I may feel thee, my son. Gen. xxvii. 21. [ 1913 Webster ]

He hath this to feel my affection to your honor. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To perceive by the mind; to have a sense of; to experience; to be affected by; to be sensible of, or sensitive to; as, to feel pleasure; to feel pain. [ 1913 Webster ]

Teach me to feel another's woe. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing. Eccl. viii. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

He best can paint them who shall feel them most. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mankind have felt their strength and made it felt. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To take internal cognizance of; to be conscious of; to have an inward persuasion of. [ 1913 Webster ]

For then, and not till then, he felt himself. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To perceive; to observe. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

To feel the helm (Naut.), to obey it. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To have perception by the touch, or by contact of anything with the nerves of sensation, especially those upon the surface of the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To have the sensibilities moved or affected. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ She ] feels with the dignity of a Roman matron. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

And mine as man, who feel for all mankind. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To be conscious of an inward impression, state of mind, persuasion, physical condition, etc.; to perceive one's self to be; -- followed by an adjective describing the state, etc.; as, to feel assured, grieved, persuaded. [ 1913 Webster ]

I then did feel full sick. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To know with feeling; to be conscious; hence, to know certainly or without misgiving. [ 1913 Webster ]

Garlands . . . which I feel
I am not worthy yet to wear. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To appear to the touch; to give a perception; to produce an impression by the nerves of sensation; -- followed by an adjective describing the kind of sensation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blind men say black feels rough, and white feels smooth. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

To feel after, to search for; to seek to find; to seek as a person groping in the dark. “If haply they might feel after him, and find him.” Acts xvii. 27. --
To feel of, to examine by touching. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Feeling; perception. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To intercept and have a more kindly feel of its genial warmth. Hazlitt. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A sensation communicated by touching; impression made upon one who touches or handles; as, this leather has a greasy feel. [ 1913 Webster ]

The difference between these two tumors will be distinguished by the feel. S. Sharp. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, feels. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) One of the sense organs or certain animals (as insects), which are used in testing objects by touch and in searching for food; an antenna; a palp. [ 1913 Webster ]

Insects . . . perpetually feeling and searching before them with their feelers or antennæ. Derham. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Anything, as a proposal, observation, etc., put forth or thrown out in order to ascertain the views of others; something tentative. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Possessing great sensibility; easily affected or moved; as, a feeling heart. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Expressive of great sensibility; attended by, or evincing, sensibility; as, he made a feeling representation of his wrongs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The sense by which the mind, through certain nerves of the body, perceives external objects, or certain states of the body itself; that one of the five senses which resides in the general nerves of sensation distributed over the body, especially in its surface; the sense of touch; nervous sensibility to external objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

Why was the sight
To such a tender ball as the eye confined, . . .
And not, as feeling, through all parts diffused? Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An act or state of perception by the sense above described; an act of apprehending any object whatever; an act or state of apprehending the state of the soul itself; consciousness. [ 1913 Webster ]

The apprehension of the good
Gives but the greater feeling to the worse. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The capacity of the soul for emotional states; a high degree of susceptibility to emotions or states of the sensibility not dependent on the body; as, a man of feeling; a man destitute of feeling. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Any state or condition of emotion; the exercise of the capacity for emotion; any mental state whatever; as, a right or a wrong feeling in the heart; our angry or kindly feelings; a feeling of pride or of humility. [ 1913 Webster ]

A fellow feeling makes one wondrous kind. Garrick. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tenderness for the feelings of others. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. That quality of a work of art which embodies the mental emotion of the artist, and is calculated to affect similarly the spectator. Fairholt.

Syn. -- Sensation; emotion; passion; sentiment; agitation; opinion. See Emotion, Passion, Sentiment. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a feeling manner; pathetically; sympathetically. [ 1913 Webster ]