feeder

 
Pronunciation: /ˈfiːdə/

noun

  • 1a person or animal that eats a particular food or in a particular manner: a plankton feeder
  • 2a container filled with food for birds or mammals.
  • British a child’s feeding bottle.
  • British a bib for an infant.
  • Fishingshort for swimfeeder.
  • 3a person or thing that supplies something, in particular:
  • a device supplying material to a machine: the automatic sheet feeder holds up to 10 sheets of paper
  • a tributary stream.
  • [usually as modifier] a branch road or railway line linking outlying districts with a main communication system.
  • a main carrying electricity to a distribution point.
  • [usually as modifier] a school, sports team, etc. from which members move on to one more advanced: a sixth-form college and its feeder schools