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Allin

feel

verbnounpronounadjectiveadverbtop 1 000 in film dialogue

  • //ˈfiːl//
  • /[ˈfɪi̯l]/

To use or experience the sense of touch. To become aware of through the skin; to use the sense of touch on.

verb

  1. 1

    To use or experience the sense of touch. 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.

    I did feel a complete fool after stumbling on the same rock again.

  2. 2

    To use or experience the sense of touch. 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. 3

    To use or experience the sense of touch. To receive information by touch or by any neurons other than those responsible for sight, smell, taste, or hearing.

  4. 4

    To use or experience the sense of touch. To search by sense of touch.

    He felt (about) for the light switch in the dark.

  5. 5

    To sense or think emotionally or judgmentally. To experience an emotion or other mental state about.

    I can feel the sadness in his poems.

    Teach me to feel another's VVoe; / To hide the Fault I ſee; / That Mercy I to others ſhovv, / That Mercy ſhow to me.

    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.

    British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.

  6. 6

    To sense or think emotionally or judgmentally. To think, believe, or have an impression concerning.

    I feel that we need to try harder.

    We felt it (to be) our duty to call the police.

    They promised me eternal happiness; And brought me garlands, Griffith, which I feel I am not worthy yet to wear.

    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.

  7. 7

    To sense or think emotionally or judgmentally. To experience an emotion or other mental state.

    He obviously feels strongly about it.

    She felt even more upset when she heard the details.

    I'm feeling really nervous about my finals.

    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.

  8. 8

    To sense or think emotionally or judgmentally. To sympathize; to have the sensibilities moved or affected.

    I feel for you and your plight.

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

    who feel for all mankind

  9. 9

    To be or become aware of.

  10. 10

    To experience the consequences of.

    Feel my wrath!

  11. 11

    To seem (through touch or otherwise).

    It looks like wood, but it feels more like plastic.

    It felt really strange to be back in my old kindergarten.

    This is supposed to be a party, but it feels more like a funeral!

  12. 12

    slangTo understand.

    I don't want you back here, ya feel me?

    Shoot, errbody have the zipper jacket / And half of these thugs have the glove to match, ya feel me?

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *fōlijan Old English fēlan Middle English felen English feel From Middle English felen, from Old English fēlan, from Proto-West Germanic *fōlijan. Cognate with Dutch voelen and German fühlen.

noun

  1. 1

    archaicThe sense of touch.

    It begins as a firm elastic swelling, which communicates to the feel the idea that a fluid is contained under a firm fascia […]

  2. 2

    A perception experienced mainly or solely through the sense of touch.

    Bark has a rough feel.

    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.

    The unshanked snaffle bit is good for bending and getting a horse used to the feel of a bit.

  3. 3

    A vague mental impression.

    You should get a feel for the area before moving in.

    You can arrange camel trips into the desert but to really get a feel for this allow yourself a couple of extra days and be prepared for what at times can be an uncomfortable journey: Xuan Zang tells us that as he left Khotan he was ‘attacked by tornados which bring with them clouds of flying gravel’.

  4. 4

    An act of fondling.

    She gave me a quick feel to show that she loves me.

  5. 5

    A vague understanding.

    I'm getting a feel for what you mean.

  6. 6

    An intuitive ability.

    She has a feel for music.

  7. 7

    slangA feeling; an emotion.

    I know that feel.

pronoun

  1. 1

    Variant of feleobsoleteAlternative form of fele.

Etymology

See fele.

adjective

  1. 1

    Variant of feleobsoleteAlternative form of fele.

adverb

  1. 1

    Variant of feleobsoleteAlternative form of fele.

Forms

plural
feels
past tense
felt
past participle
felt
present participle
feeling
third person singular
feels
The neighbouring pagesAlphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.

Lexical content from Wiktionary, under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source entry · Data version 2026-08-23

Rank among the words of the OpenSubtitles 2018 corpus — film and television subtitles, so spoken rather than written usage (CC BY-SA 3.0).