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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Food \Food\, n. [OE. fode, AS. f[=o]da; akin to Icel.
f[ae][eth]a, f[ae][eth]i, Sw. f["o]da, Dan. & LG. f["o]de,
OHG. fatunga, Gr. patei^sthai to eat, and perh. to Skr. p[=a]
to protect, L. pascere to feed, pasture, pabulum food, E.
pasture. [root]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.
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Note: 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 f[ae]ces.
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Note: 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.
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2. Anything that instructs the intellect, excites the
feelings, or molds habits of character; that which
nourishes.
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This may prove food to my displeasure. --Shak.
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In this moment there is life and food
For future years. --Wordsworth.
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Note: Food is often used adjectively or in self-explaining
compounds, as in food fish or food-fish, food supply.
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{Food vacuole} (Zool.), 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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Food \Food\, v. t.
To supply with food. [Obs.] --Baret.
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