feather
fea·ther [feather feathers feathered feathering] noun, verb BrE [ˈfeðə(r)] NAmE [ˈfeðər]
noun 
one of the many soft light parts covering a bird's body
•a peacock feather
•a feather pillow (= one containing feathers)
more at birds of a feather (flock together) at ↑bird, you could have knocked me down with a feather at ↑knock v., ruffle sb's/a few feathers at ↑ruffle v., smooth sb's ruffled feathers at ↑smooth v.
Word Origin:
Old English fether, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch veer and German Feder, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit patra ‘wing’, Latin penna ‘feather’, and Greek pteron, pterux ‘wing’.
Example Bank:
•I had to pluck the dead hen's feathers.
•Its feathers were ruffled by the chill breeze.
•The chicks have grown their adult feathers.
•The owl fluffed out its feathers.
•a fledgling with new flight feathers
•a swan preening its feathers
•plucking the dead hen's feathers
•the downy feathers on the duck's breast
Idioms: ↑feather in your cap ▪ ↑feather your nest
verb
more at tar and feather sb at ↑tar v.
Verb forms: 
Word Origin:
Old English fether, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch veer and German Feder, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit patra ‘wing’, Latin penna ‘feather’, and Greek pteron, pterux ‘wing’.
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