to feed off
34
3.7
- phrasal verb
- /fiːd ɔf/
:
alimentarse de
- The sun has given us life, and though we all look different, its light connects us all, and we all feed off its energy.
- feed off each other
- feed off the energy
- feed off the crowd
Those people came together, They feed off of me, I feed off of them.
- Those people came together, They feed off of me, I feed off of them.
- The truth of the matter is cancer feeds off glucose.
- And we know that cancer cells feed off of sugar.
- First of all, understand that everything feeds off of information.
- And interestingly as well, it's how the dog feeds off the owner.
- I try to, you know, a average speaker has to feed off energy from the crowd, right?
- So what happened was we feed off of each other, but it comes first with respect.
- But the problem with magic is that there are all of these, let's just say monsters for the sake of making sense that feed off of magic.
- Imagination feeds off of the fact that there's always an answer, that there's always a better way.
- We know that COVID feeds off close contact and that's why it can go worldwide in weeks.
- It was it was feeding off data of the console.
- And so that we live in a society that, that, that feeds off the hungry ghost.
- And these people, these entities are feeding off it.
- So yet again, you're feeding off me, OK?
Examples
-
"It's important for the students to feed off one another and find holes in their own thinking."
Academic text (2002) -
During the performance, I could really feed off the crowd's excitement.
-
I am lucky to work with, you know, some people here on the floor and I feed off their energy.
-
So what happened was we feed off of each other, but it comes first with respect.
-
We really feed off your energy.
-
We feed off each other just the same.
-
I believed in his vision, and we fed off each other to make it a reality.
Blog text (1) -
Many successful athletes feed off the encouragement of crowds.
Academic text (1993) -
He feeds off your hope.
-
She's feeding off their faith, growing stronger.
Synonyms
564
6.6
Gradually use up money or fuel
77
3.9
Rely on someone, a job, or savings for the food and money you need
69
2.9
To eat something or get strength and ideas from it
39
4.1
Do well and get energy from something they enjoy or find hard
23
3.1
Use up money or time quickly
To get ideas or energy from something to help your work
How Much
Surface Forms
Morphology
feed + off
The meaning 'to gain nourishment or benefit from X' is directly derivable from combining 'feed' (to give or take nourishment) with the particle 'off' (indicating source or separation), so the sense of obtaining sustenance from something is compositionally clear. Although it can be used metaphorically for abstract sources (e.g. 'feeds off her mother's love'), this is a regular verb+particle extension common across languages and predictable for learners who know both constituents.
Etymology
The phrasal verb feed off comes from a simple picture of an animal eating from something, like a vulture that feeds off a dead animal. So it now means to 'get energy, support, or advantage from' someone or something.