# feed off

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/feed-off
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To get stimulus from (an external object).

## Examples

- 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.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.