Meaning

4 senses
  1. (literally)Someone or something that feels.

    Are you more of a feeler or more of a thinker?

    Fühler

    щупščup

  2. An antenna or appendage used for feeling, especially on an insect.

    Fühler

    у́сикúsik, щу́пальцеščúpalʹce, анте́ннаantɛ́nna

    ву́сикvúsyk, анте́наanténa, щу́пальцеščúpalʹce

  3. (figuratively)Something ventured to test another's feelings, opinion, or position.

    I sent out some feelers but they didn't seem interested.

    This survey is designed to get a feeler about how the citizens feel about the proposed new highway.

  4. (Philippines, figuratively)A presumptive person; someone who bases on gut feeling, such as assuming or imagining that something said or done, whether positive or negative, was for a person despite having no concrete confirmation but gut feeling, or someone who assumes one's affection is reciprocated, or indulges in one's own wishful thinking or flatters oneself

More definitions
  • one of a pair of mobile appendages on the head of e.g. insects and crustaceans; typically sensitive to touch and taste
  • slender tactile process on the jaws of a fish
  • sensitivity similar to that of a receptor organ
  • a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others

Examples

2 sentences
  1. The snail draws in its feelers.

    Равлик виставляє свої антени.

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  2. The snail drew in its feelers.

    Равлик виставив свої антени.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · trieuho · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

8 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
an antenna or appendage used to feel, as on an insect:
Русский
By meaning 2
someone or something that feels:
an antenna or appendage used to feel, as on an insect:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
someone or something that feels:

Origin

From Middle English feler, feeler, felar, equivalent to feel + -er. Animal organ definitio

From Middle English feler, feeler, felar, equivalent to feel + -er. Animal organ definition from 1660s. Transferred sense of "proposal put forth to observe the reaction it gets" is from 1830.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: feelers
Singularfeeler
Pluralfeelers

regular

Synonyms

5 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • one of a pair of mobile appendages on the head of e.g. insects and crustaceans; typically sensitive to touch and taste:antenna
  • slender tactile process on the jaws of a fish:barbel
  • sensitivity similar to that of a receptor organ:antenna
  • a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others:overtureadvanceapproach

Word family

4 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
feeler — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto