feed off
To get stimulus from (an external object).
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The plants feed off the sunlight in the garden.”
“The comedian loves a loud crowd because he feeds off their energy during his show.”
“The charismatic leader seemed to feed off the growing tension in the room, using the audience's visible anxiety to fuel his increasingly aggressive rhetoric.”
- 01
bite the hand that feeds one
To cause harm to a benefactor (especially one that one is dependent on, thus with the idea that this behaviour is self-damaging).
- 02
chicken feed
A very small or insignificant quantity, especially of money.
- 03
feed the dragon
To outsource (jobs) to the People's Republic of China.
- 04
feed the fire
Synonym of add fuel to the fire.
- 05
feed the meter
To place coins into a parking meter or gas meter.
- 06
feed two birds with one scone
Synonym of kill two birds with one stone.
Last updated August 10, 2026