feebly, adv.
(ˈfiːblɪ)
Forms: 3 febleliche, -like, 3–4 febliche, (5 febiliche), 4 febilly, (5 -ylly), 4–6 febly, (4 febli, 5 feabli), 6 feablelye, feebily, 7 feably, 7– feebly.
[f. feeble + -ly2.]
In a feeble manner.
† 1. In a sorry manner or plight; inefficiently, insufficiently, niggardly, poorly, scantily. Obs.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg., Edmund Conf. 112 Ake febleliche hire spedde, For seint Eadmund hadde ane smate ȝeorde. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6125 Febleliche he liuede al is lif & deyde in feble deþe. c 1300 Havelok 418 Feblelike he gaf hem cloþes. c 1300 Beket 1178 Such a man..So febliche wende over lond. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 30, Y holde hym that dothe it but febly conseled. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab., Upl. Mous 37, Poems (1865) 109 Ane sober wane, Of fog and fairn full febillie wes maid. |
2. In a weak, ineffective, or half-hearted manner, without strength, energy, or force; weakly. Of sight: Dimly.
| c 1320 Sir Tristr. 3050 Febli þou canst hayte. a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxlv. 1, I may noght stand now bot febilly. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 67 Þe pouse began to appere febiliche. 1483 Cath. Angl. 124/2 Febylly, debeliter, imbecilliter. 1533 More Debell. Salem i. xiv. 104 b, He hath..defended..his boke..wythe myche worke full febly. 1548 Hall Chron. 177 He was fayntly receyved, and febly welcomed. 1591 Spenser Ruins of Rome 221 Ye see huge flames..Efsoones consum'd to fall downe feebily. 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. ii. 87 The deeds of Coriolanus Should not be vtter'd feebly. 1682 Dryden Mac Fl. 197 Thy gentle numbers feebly creep. 1757 Foote Author ii, Which were as feebly resisted. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xix. 232, I..see feebly in prospect my recovery. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 275 In dreaming we feebly recollect. |
3. In a small degree, slightly, poorly.
| 1830 Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 133 Others feebly represented in our own country. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 698 The acids act but feebly upon caoutchouc. |
4. Comb., as feebly-toiling adj.
| 1845 Mrs. Norton Child of Islands (1846) 179 The feebly-toiling heart that shrinks appalled. |