feed, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

feed v.

1. (US und.) to pass over information, true or otherwise.

1931		P.J. Wolfson Bodies are Dust (2019) [ebook] ‘What you feedin’ me, Cap?’ ‘What the hell do you mean?’.
1977		E. Torres Q&A 111: ‘You fuckin’ stool pigeon.’ ‘Bobby, I’m a three-time loser [...] I couldn’t do any more time. I was desperate.’ ‘All right, so you’ve been feeding [Lieutenant] Brennan for four years’.

2. (US) to hand over money.

1986

J. Ellroy Suicide Hill 81: The sales manager wanted four thou. Rice countered with twenty-five hundred cash. The sales manager said, ‘Feed me,’ and Rice handed it over.

SE in slang uses

In phrases

feed a line (v.)

see under line n.¹

feed from home (v.)

to commit adultery.

c.1591

Shakespeare Comedy of Errors II i: Too unruly deer, he breaks the pale, And feeds from home; poor I am but his stale.

feed (hot) lead (v.)

see under lead n.

feed one’s face (v.)

see separate entry.

feed one’s habit (v.)

see under habit n.

feed one’s pussy (v.)

see under pussy n.

feed someone chunks (v.)

(US campus) to attempt verbal deception.

1896

W.C. Gore Student Sl. in Cohen (1997) 13: feed one chunks To impose on one, to tell a story too large to be believed. ‘Do you think I believe you? You are feeding me chunks.’.

feed someone stuff (v.)

(US black) to deceive, to pass on false (and self-serving) information.

1983

R. Klein Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.].

feed the bears (v.)

see under bear n.

feed the chooks (v.)

see choke the chicken under choke v.

feed the dog (v.)

1. see fuck the dog (and sell the pups) under dog n.²

2. see see a man about a dog under see v.

feed the ducks (v.) [the similarity in hand motions]

(US) of a man, to masturbate.

1997–99		AllAboutSex.org 🌐 ‘Words for Masturbation’ Feed the ducks. Fight the Champ.
1997		Roger’s Profanisaurus in Viz 87 Dec. n.p.: feeding the ducks euph. Wanking. From the apparent similarity in hand movements.

feed the dumb glutton (v.)

see under dumb glutton n.

feed the dummy (v.) [var. on feed the dumb glutton under dumb glutton n.]

to have sexual intercourse.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

feed the fishes (v.)

1. to die by drowning.

1820		Bristol Mercury 7 Aug. 4/1: Bring back in safety Little B- / Nor feed the fishes with Dan B- / [...] / Return, O ship! secure and whole.
1829		Vidocq Memoirs (trans. W. McGinn) I 33: The officer in charge whom [...] we despatched to feed the fish of the Escaut with five strokes of the bayonet.
1834		‘Jack Downing’ Andrew Jackson 89: Blowin up one of their vessels, and sendin a hull grist of ’em tu feed the herrins.
1883		‘Mark Twain’ Life on the Mississippi (1914) 321: [of a town] Swallowed up, vanished, and gone to feed the fishes.
1899		Eve. Teleg. (Durham) 22 Feb. 2/9: Be hurled piecemeal into the Nile 'to feed the fishes'.
1926		Wood & Goddard Dict. Amer. Sl.
1936		L. Pound ‘Amer. Euphemisms for Dying’ in AS XI:3 199: Fed the fishes (died by drowning).
2000		Observer Rev. 2 Apr. 1: Or is what’s left of Reg feeding the fishes at the bottom of the Caribbean?

2. (US) to vomit, esp. over the side of a ship.

[1838		R.S. Surtees Jorrocks Jaunts (1874) 167: Just at which moment the boat gave a roll, and he wound up the inquiry by a donation to the fishes].
1874		‘Old Calabar’ Won in a Canter I 152: [F]rantically shouting to the steward for basins — not for basins of the well-known marine pea-soup, but for the purpose of contributing their mite to feed the fishes.
1884		Home Tidings 22 Nov. 398: Although I fed myself shortly before arriving abreast of Eddystone, I fed the fish shortly afterwards [F&H].
1900		Sporting Times 17 Feb. 1/5: I am going to cross the Channel tomorrow, and am afraid I shall feed the fish.
1917		J.E. Rendinell diary 1 Nov. in One Man’s War (1928) 29: Fed fishes after supper. Got awful sick.
1919		A.W. Scherr diary 10 May 🌐 Up again at 5:30 a.m. on deck before breakfast – started to weather about midnight – the ‘Bounding main true to life.’ [...] Many are feeding the fish.
1926		Wood & Goddard Dict. Amer. Sl.
1940		(con. 1918) S.J. Simonsen Soldier Bill 52: Several times he leaned over the railing and ‘fed the fish’.
1982		W. Safire What’s The Good Word? 303: The ultimate in regurgitation is ‘to feed the fish’.
1989		M. Belmonte Compter Science and Why (1993) 🌐 I was struck with [...] the plethora of words and phrases meaning ‘vomit’ and/or ‘to vomit’ [...] At most American colleges and universities, a weekend cannot pass without seeing multitudes [...] feed the fish.

feed the goldfish (v.)

(US) to vomit, esp. over the side of a ship.

1942

Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. of Sl. 130.32: Vomit. . . go feed the goldfish [DARE].

feed the pigeons (v.) [the image of a hand shaking out breadcrumbs]

of a man, to masturbate.

2001

P. Meditzy ‘A Day In The Life Of...’ 29 Apr. 🌐 . ‘Feeding the pigeons’ is OK but not to the extent I had been doing it.

feed the pony (v.)

see under pony n.

feed the roots of daisies (v.) [var. on push up (the) daisies v. (1)]

to die.

1930

J. Lait Gangster Girl 76: One guy’s feedin’ the roots of daisies.

feed the worms (v.) [although the image dates to the early 17C, the sl. use is modern]

to die.

1838		‘The Life and Death of Dando’ in C. Hindley James Catnach (1878) 337: Dando, he’s gone to feed the worms.
1993		The Weasels ‘Have a Nice Day’ 🎵 The nitty’s always gritty / Pestilence and germs / First you feed the kitty / Then you feed the worms.

feed with a spoon (v.)

to bribe.

1923

J. Manchon Le Slang.