to feed upon
- phrasal verb
- /fiːd əˈpɒn/
:
nutrirse de
- Great art often feeds upon the emotional experiences of the artist, transforming pain into beauty.
Examples
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Even now, demonic forces hover here, feeding upon the psychic force of that one act.
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Awake and feed upon their purity.
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In all cases, the competitiveness argument fed upon public anxiety about job security.
Academic text (1997) -
The author's creativity feeds upon the struggles of everyday life, inspiring his most profound works.
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Her motivation to succeed feeds upon the support she receives from her friends and family.
Synonyms
69
2.9
To eat something or get strength and ideas from it
34
3.7
To take energy from something, like food or attention
Antonyms
How Much
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to be sustained or nourished by' is directly derived from combining 'feed' (to give nourishment/support) with the preposition 'upon' (indicating source or basis), so a learner who knows both words can infer the intended sense. The figurative extension (e.g. being inspired or sustained by fear) follows the same transparent source–sustenance logic, a common cross-linguistic pattern, making the expression predictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
Feed upon comes from the image of an animal that feeds upon food to live. So when we say someone feeds upon books or ideas, we mean they are 'nourished' or 'inspired' by them.