Feath″er (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p.Feathered (#); p. pr. & vb. n.Feathering.] 1. To furnish with a feather or feathers, as an arrow or a cap.
An eagle had the ill hap to be struck with an arrow feathered from her own wing. L'Estrange.
2. To adorn, as with feathers; to fringe.
A few birches and oaks still feathered the narrow ravines. Sir W. Scott.
3. To render light as a feather; to give wings to.
The Polonian story perhaps may feather some tedious hours. Loveday.
4. To enrich; to exalt; to benefit.
They stuck not to say that the king cared not to plume his nobility and people to feather himself. Bacon.Dryden.
5. To tread, as a cock. Dryden.
To feather one's nest, to provide for one's self especially from property belonging to another, confided to one's care; — an expression taken from the practice of birds which collect feathers for the lining of their nests. — To feather an oar(Naut), to turn it when it leaves the water so that the blade will be horizontal and offer the least resistance to air while reaching for another stroke. — To tar and feather a person, to smear him with tar and cover him with feathers, as a punishment or an indignity.