to feed the meter
4
3.2
- phrasal verb
:
meter dinero en el parquímetro
- Make sure to feed the meter so you don't get a ticket.
- forgot to feed the meter
- quarters to feed the meter
- get caught feeding the meter
Examples
-
Feed the meter.
-
A vague background irritation, a creeping self-consciousness, fugitive thoughts: "Here I am, listening to this music." "I wonder how long this piece lasts." "Did I remember to feed the meter?"
Academic text (2016) -
Gotta go feed the meter.
-
You gotta feed the meter, partner.
-
I found a space right out front of the Coffee Company, fed the meter a couple of quarters, and we went in.
Fiction book (2002) -
There will be one fifteen-minute break in the morning and one in the afternoon so that you can feed the meters.
Fiction book (1990) -
It was time to feed the meter again.
Fiction book (2002) -
Well, because one of them, the blonde, was concerned about getting a ticket, so she kept asking the brunette to go feed the meter.
-
He kept forgetting to feed the meter in front of his office.
Fiction book (2002) -
I need to go feed the meter before my parking time runs out.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To give money for something you buy or owe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a literal composition: 'feed' (to supply or give input) applied to 'meter' (a device) yields the action of supplying a meter with money. This is a common, concrete use (similar to feeding coins into a machine) and follows transparent composition patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to infer the parking-related meaning.
Etymology
The phrase feed the meter comes from the image of putting coins into the metal box called a meter, as if you feed it like an animal to keep it working. So today, to feed the meter means 'to put money into a parking meter to pay for parking time'.