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⚙️ A supply device 🍽️ To give too little 🔧 To supply too little
to underfeed

to underfeed

4.9
To give too little food to a person, animal, or plant
  • verb
  • /ˌʌndərˈfiːd/
translation icon : subalimentar
  • The farmer realized he had been underfeeding his chickens, so he adjusted their diet to ensure they received enough nutrition.

Examples

  • She was concerned that underfeeding the stray cat would harm its health.

  • If you continue underfeeding your plants, they will not grow healthy or strong.

  • Some say water fasting is not really about depleting your minerals; it is better than underfeeding your body over a long time.

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Synonyms

to malnourish
vsto underfeed
16 6.8

Give a person or animal too little food so they become unhealthy

is about giving too little food rather than the resulting health condition
to undernourish
vsto underfeed
3 6.3

To give a person or animal not enough food to be healthy

focuses on the act of giving too little food rather than long term effects

Antonyms

to overfeed
1 3.5

To give a person or animal more food than they need

How Much Food

to overfeed
1 3.5
to feed
870 1.0
to underfeed
4.9
to starve
134 3.0

Surface Forms

underfeed infinitive
underfed past
underfed past participle
underfeeding present participle
underfeeds third person singular

Morphology

underfeed = feed (transparent) = under + feed

Standard productive use of 'under-' to mean 'insufficiently' with the verb 'feed'; meaning 'to give too little food' is directly derivable.

Etymology

Underfeed is built from under ('not enough') and feed ('to give food'), a bit like underpaid where under means 'not enough'. So to underfeed a person or animal is to give them too little food.