feel
FEEL, v.t. pret. and pp. felt. L. palpo. the primary sense is to touch, to pat, to strike gently, or to press, as is evident from the L. palpito, and other derivatives of palp. If so, the word seems to be allied to L. pello.
1. To perceive by the touch; to have sensation excited by contact of a thing with the body or limbs.
Suffer me that I may feel the pillars. Judges 16.
Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son.
Gen. 27.
2. To have the sense of; to suffer or enjoy; as, to feel pain; to feel pleasure.
3. To experience; to suffer.
Whoso keepeth the commandments shall feel no evil thing. Eccles. 8.
4. To be affected by; to perceive mentally; as, to feel grief or woe.
Would I had never trod this English earth, or felt the flatteies that grow upon it.
5. To know; to be acquainted with; to have a real and just view of.
For then, and not till then, he felt himself.
6. To touch; to handle; with or without of.
Feel this piece of silk, or feel of it.
To feel, or to feel out, is to try; to sound; to search for; to explore; as, to feel or feel out ones opinions or designs.
To feel after, to search for; to seek to find; to seek as a person groping in the dark.
If haply they might feel after him, and find him. Acts 18.
FEEL, v.i.
1. To have perception by the touch, or by the contact of any substance with the body.
2. To have the sensibility or the passions moved or excited. The good man feels for the woes of others.
3. To give perception; to excite sensation.
Blind men say black feels rough, and white feels smooth.
So, we say, a thing feels soft or hard, or it feels hot or cold.
4. To have perception mentally; as, to feel hurt; to feel grieved; to feel unwilling.
FEEL, n. The sense of feeling, or the perception caused by the touch. The difference of tumors may be ascertained by the feel. Argillaceous stones may sometimes be known by the feel. In America, feeling is more generally used; but the use of feel is not uncommon.
feeling
FEELING, ppr.
1. Perceiving by the touch; having perception.
2. a. Expressive of great sensibility; affecting; tending to excite the passions. He made a feeling representation of his wrongs. He spoke with feeling eloquence.
3. Possessing great sensibility; easily affected or moved; as a feeling man; a feeling heart.
4. Sensibly or deeply affected; as, I had a feeling sense of his favors. This use is not analogical, but common.
FEELING, n.
1. The sense of touch; the sense by which we perceive external objects which come in contact with the body, and obtain ideas of their tangible qualities; one of the five senses. It is by feeling we know that a body is hard or soft, hot or cold, wet or dry, rough or smooth.
2. Sensation; the effect of perception.
The apprehension of the good gives but the greater feeling to the worse.
3. Faculty or power of perception; sensibility.
Their king, out of a princely feeling, was sparing and compassionate towards his subjects.
4. Nice sensibility; as a man of feeling.
5. Excitement; emotion.
feelingly
FEELINGLY, adv.
1. With expression of great sensibility; tenderly; as, to speak feelingly.
2. So as to be sensibly felt.
These are counselors, that feelingly persuade me what I am.