Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (UK Und.) a (silver) spoon.

1718		C. Hitchin Regulator 19: Feeders, alias Spoons.
1753		J. Poulter Discoveries (1774) 42: I’m a Sneak for Chinks and Feeders; I’m a Thief for Tankards or Spoons.
1768		(con. 1710–25) Tyburn Chronicle II in Groom (1999) xxix: Feeders Spoons.
c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: Feeder. To nab the feeder; to steal a spoon.
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn) n.p.:
1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang.
1821		D. Haggart Autobiog. 98: The articles consisted of feeders, and other trifles.
1839		H. Brandon Dict. of the Flash or Cant Lang. 163/1: Feeder – a spoon.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.
1857		‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 144/1: Now the clatter commenced, all hands enjoyed in scraping the tinnyest speck from their tins, and when spoons had done all that spoons could do, a piece of bread was used to sponge away any semblance of ‘skilly’ [...] ’Twas during the noise occasioned by the dextrous use of their ‘feeders’ that we kept up a talk.
1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1881		Trumble Sl. Dict. (1890) 14: Feeders. Silver spoons or forks.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks.

2. (UK und.) a portion (of food).

1840

Flash Mirror 4: The Bug Walk [...] This house is a pannum supply [...] if any gemman of an high order thinks fit to put his beak in, he can get a feeder of slap up peck for a kick.

3. (US) the mouth or throat.

1902		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 103: (Doesn’t It Seem Strange) That a big burly football player will roll around in the mud and have his ‘feeder’ wiped out with a dirty sponge.
1909, 1913		cited in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993).
1929		E. Caldwell Bastard (1963) 75: He [...] stuffed ’em down his feeder.

4. (US drugs) a hypodermic syringe.

1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore.
1975		Hardy & Cull Drug Lang. and Lore.