Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hand-feed
As outlined in the Shark Reef Marine Reserve fact sheet, during dive experiences here, visitors can crouch behind a small wall while sharks are hand-fed or given tuna heads dropped from a plastic bin.
—
Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 4 June 2025
There are unique adventures that include painting alongside a sea lion, swimming with dolphins, and hand-feeding giant tarpon.
—Angela Caraway-Carlton, Miami Herald, 20 May 2025
The Bronx Zoo ornithologists pioneered the technique over 40 years ago, using a similar mechanism to hand-feed Andean condor chicks in 1981.
—Moná Thomas, People.com, 1 May 2025
The puppies went to one foster home, where they were hand-fed every few hours.
—Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 May 2025
Timothy Treadwell, an amateur environmentalist, spent 13 summers filming himself among Alaskan grizzly bears, naming them, petting them, sometimes hand-feeding them, until one of them killed him and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, in 2003.
—Boutayna Chokrane, Wired News, 22 Apr. 2025
Billy and Michelle Mouw’s family farm has been hand-feeding their chickens and providing fresh eggs for 32 years.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2025
Trying to reason with someone like that is like trying to hand-feed a shark.
—Harper's Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
But the people who did the actual hands-on work of incubating the eggs and hand-feeding the chicks around the clock were a dedicated team of aviculturists and bird keepers.
—Grrlscientist, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024
Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 4 June 2025
There are unique adventures that include painting alongside a sea lion, swimming with dolphins, and hand-feeding giant tarpon.
—Angela Caraway-Carlton, Miami Herald, 20 May 2025
The Bronx Zoo ornithologists pioneered the technique over 40 years ago, using a similar mechanism to hand-feed Andean condor chicks in 1981.
—Moná Thomas, People.com, 1 May 2025
The puppies went to one foster home, where they were hand-fed every few hours.
—Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 May 2025
Timothy Treadwell, an amateur environmentalist, spent 13 summers filming himself among Alaskan grizzly bears, naming them, petting them, sometimes hand-feeding them, until one of them killed him and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, in 2003.
—Boutayna Chokrane, Wired News, 22 Apr. 2025
Billy and Michelle Mouw’s family farm has been hand-feeding their chickens and providing fresh eggs for 32 years.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2025
Trying to reason with someone like that is like trying to hand-feed a shark.
—Harper's Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
But the people who did the actual hands-on work of incubating the eggs and hand-feeding the chicks around the clock were a dedicated team of aviculturists and bird keepers.
—Grrlscientist, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hand-feed
Verb
-
The savvy celebrity on the business end of the jockeying just spoon-feeds you their evolution.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
27 June 2025
-
The season has traded both subtlety and ambiguity for clear explanations spelled out and spoon-fed.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2025
Verb
-
Schedule feeding can lead to overfeeding or underfeeding which can cause uncomfortable sensations for the baby such as painful gas (and the crying associated with it), difficulty sleeping, and never feeling truly full.—
Lauryn Higgins,
Parents,
7 July 2025
-
The court heard during the case in 2023 that Letby attacked babies in her care by administering air into their blood and stomachs, overfeeding them with milk, physically assaulting them, and poisoning them with insulin.—
Lauren Kent,
CNN Money,
1 July 2025
Verb
-
To fatten up the liver that’s used to create foie gras, farmers force-feed the fowl more grain than their bodies need.—
Ari Daniel,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2025
-
Farmers who fatten their chickens most efficiently are paid the best.—
Gavin Off,
Charlotte Observer,
20 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
There was the constant Tom Brady and Bill Belichick chatter as we were constantly force-fed one reminder after another about what the Miami Dolphins had done in 1972.—
Geoffrey Knox,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 July 2025
-
Take, for example, the first victim portrays gluttony: a man with obesity is force-fed literally to death via hemorrhage.—
Derek Scancarelli,
EW.com,
27 June 2025
Verb
-
On a scouting trip several years ago, my mask kept filling with water.—
Steve Waters,
Miami Herald,
5 July 2025
-
To keep the potting mix damp, set the pots in a kiddie pool filled with a few inches of water.—
Nan Sterman,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hand-feed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hand-feed. Accessed 20 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share