Feathers Dead Hen’s Ruffled Noun Bre ˈfeðə(R ˈfeðər

• a peacock feather
• a feather pillow (= one containing feathers)
• i had to pluck the dead hen’s feathers.
• its feathers were ruffled by the chill breeze.

feather

1. one of the many soft light parts covering a bird’s body
• a peacock feather
• a feather pillow (= one containing feathers)
2. people of the same sort (are found together)
3. an action that you can be proud of
• See related entries: Proud
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/topic/proud/feather_2
4. to annoy or upset somebody or a group of people
• See related entries: Anger
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/topic/anger/feather_3
• The senator's speech ruffled a few feathers in the business world.
5. to make somebody feel less angry or offended
6. used to express surprise

Extra Examples

• 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

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’.