feathery, a. (and n.)
(ˈfɛðərɪ)
[f. as prec. + -y.]
1. a. Of birds: Clothed with feathers; feathered.
| 1634 Milton Comus 346 Might we but hear..the..village cock Count the night-watches to his feathery dames. 1753 Dodsley Agriculture i. 241 His feathery subjects in obedience flock Around his feeding hand. 1800 J. Hurdis Fav. Village 125 Beneath my chair Sit budge, a feathery bunch. 1884 Pall Mall G. 17 Mar. 12/2 The..bird.. joins once more in feathery society. |
b. Of a dog: Curly-haired.
| 1889 Pall Mall G. 12 Aug. 6/1 Groups of feathery setters..strain on their couplings. |
2. a. Fringed, tipped, or flecked with something feather-like.
| 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. i. 220 The beacon's glimmering height That faintly tipt the feathery surge with light. 1826 Mrs. Hemans Forest Sanctuary i. iii, Sighing through the feathery canes. 1876 M. E. Braddon J. Haggard's Dau. II. 25 Silver arrows of pale summer moonlight pierced the feathery pine-branches. 1884 F. D. Millet in Harper's Mag. Sept. 520/1 The sky..feathery and soft in texture. |
b. Of the voice: Husky.
| 1881 J. Grant Cameronians I. iii. 42 Sir Piers, whose voice had become..somewhat ‘feathery’. |
3. Resembling feathers or plumes. a. in appearance: Feather-like, plume-like, esp. of snow.
| 1580 C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxlviii, Yon feathery snowes from wynters nests. 1650 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. i. (ed. 2) 55 Which seems to be some feathery particle of snow. 1791 Cowper Iliad xii. 336 As the feathery snows Fall frequent. 1807 J. E. Smith Phys. Bot. 300 The feathery appendages to the seeds of Dandelion. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxxv. (1856) 323 The prolongations..passed into detached feathery clouds. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 180 Valeriana..Calyx⁓limb..developing into a feathery deciduous pappus. 1888 M. E. Braddon Fatal Three i. i, Diamond stars trembling amongst her feathery golden hair. |
b. in lightness. Hence of immaterial things: Light, fickle. Of material things: Light, flimsy.
| 1601 ? Marston Pasquil & Kath. i. 281 So turnes her feath'rie fancie to and fro. 1699 W. Bates Spir. Perfect. Unfolded xii. 420 Our Resolutions are Light and Feathery. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. ii. vi, Blowing the feathery ash from his cigar. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 63 Holds not her yellow locks the tiara's feathery tissue. |
c. humorously. Of a feather-dealer.
| 1813 Moore Post-bag (ed. 8) 54 Fine and feathery artizan..Make for me a prince's plume. |
4. Of golf-balls: stuffed with feathers. Also as n.
| 1891 R. Forgan Golfer's Handbk. 34 The so-called ‘feathery’ variety of golf balls exclusively held the field. These ‘featheries’ were made of leather, stuffed with feathers. |