Food , v. t. To supply with food. [Obs.]
Baret.
Food (?), n. [OE.
fode, AS. fōda;
akin to Icel. fæða, fæði, Sw. föda, Dan. & LG. föde, OHG. fatunga, Gr.
patei^sthai to eat, and perh. to Skr. pā to protect, L. pascere to feed, pasture, pabulum food, E. pasture. √75. Cf. Feed, Fodder food, Foster to cherish.]
1. What is
fed upon; that which goes to support life by being
received within, and
assimilated by, the organism of an animal or
a plant; nutriment; aliment; especially, what is eaten by animals for nourishment.
&fist; In a
physiological sense,
true aliment is to be distinguished as that portion of the food which is capable of being digested and absorbed into the blood, thus furnishing nourishment, in distinction from the indigestible matter which passes out through the alimentary canal as fæces.
&fist; Foods are divided into two main
groups: nitrogenous, or proteid, foods, i.e., those
which contain nitrogen, and
nonnitrogenous, i.e.,
those which do not contain nitrogen. The latter group embraces the fats and carbohydrates, which collectively are sometimes termed heat
producers or respiratory foods, since by oxidation in the body they
especially subserve
the production of heat. The
proteids, on the other hand, are known as
plastic foods or tissue formers, since no tissue can
be formed without them. These latter terms, however, are misleading, since proteid foods may also give rise to heat
both directly and indirectly, and the fats and carbohydrates are useful in other ways than in producing heat.
2. Anything that instructs the intellect, excites the feelings, or molds habits of character; that which nourishes.
This may prove food to my displeasure.
Shak.
In this moment there is life and
food
For future years.
Wordsworth.
&fist; Food is often used adjectively or in self-explaining compounds, as in food fish or food-fish, food supply.
Food vacuole (Zoöl.),
one of the spaces in the interior of a protozoan in which food is
contained, during digestion. -- Food yolk. (Biol.) See under Yolk.
Syn. -- Aliment; sustenance; nutriment;
feed; fare; victuals; provisions; meat.
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