feisty /fa I sti/ ADJ If you describe someone as feisty , you mean that they are tough, independent, and spirited, often when you would not expect them to be, for example because they are old or ill. □ At 66, she was as feisty as ever.
fe|lici|tous /f I l I s I təs/ ADJ If you describe a remark or idea as felicitous , you approve of it because it seems particularly suitable in the circumstances. [FORMAL , APPROVAL ] □ Her prose style is not always felicitous; she tends to repetition.
fe|lic|ity /f I l I s I ti/
1 N‑UNCOUNT Felicity is great happiness and pleasure. [LITERARY ] □ …joy and felicity.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Felicity is the quality of being good, pleasant, or desirable. [LITERARY ] □ …his conversational manner and easy verbal felicity.
fe|line /fiː la I n/ (felines )
1 ADJ [ADJ n] Feline means belonging or relating to the cat family.
2 N‑COUNT A feline is an animal that belongs to the cat family. □ The 14lb feline is so fat she can hardly walk.
3 ADJ [usu ADJ n] You can use feline to describe someone's appearance or movements if they are elegant or graceful in a way that makes you think of a cat. [LITERARY ] □ She moves with feline grace.
fell /fe l/ (fells , felling , felled )
1 Fell is the past tense of fall .
2 VERB [usu passive] If trees are felled , they are cut down. □ [be V -ed] Badly infected trees should be felled and burned.
3 VERB If you fell someone, you knock them down, for example in a fight. □ [V n] …a blow on the forehead which felled him to the ground.
4 in one fell swoop → see swoop
fel|la /fe lə/ (fellas ) also feller N‑COUNT You can refer to a man as a fella . [INFORMAL ] □ He's an intelligent man and a nice fella.
fel|la|tio /fəle I ʃioʊ/ N‑UNCOUNT Fellatio is oral sex which involves someone using their mouth to stimulate their partner's penis.
fel|low ◆◆◇ /fe loʊ/ (fellows )
1 ADJ [ADJ n] You use fellow to describe people who are in the same situation as you, or people you feel you have something in common with. □ She discovered to her pleasure, a talent for making her fellow guests laugh. □ Even in jail, my fellow inmates treated me with kindness.
2 N‑COUNT A fellow is a man or boy. [INFORMAL , OLD-FASHIONED ] □ By all accounts, Rodger would appear to be a fine fellow.
3 N‑PLURAL Your fellows are the people who you work with, do things with, or who are like you in some way. [FORMAL ] □ People looked out for one another and were concerned about the welfare of their fellows.
4 N‑COUNT A fellow of an academic or professional association is someone who is a specially elected member of it, usually because of their work or achievements or as a mark of honour. □ [+ of ] …the fellows of the Zoological Society of London.
fe l|low fee l|ing also fellow-feeling N‑UNCOUNT Fellow feeling is sympathy and friendship that exists between people who have shared similar experiences or difficulties.
fel|low|ship /fe loʊʃ I p/ (fellowships )
1 N‑COUNT A fellowship is a group of people that join together for a common purpose or interest. □ …the National Schizophrenia Fellowship. □ At Merlin's instigation, Arthur founds the Fellowship of the Round Table.
2 N‑COUNT A fellowship at a university is a post which involves research work. □ He was offered a research fellowship at Clare College.
3 N‑UNCOUNT Fellowship is a feeling of friendship that people have when they are talking or doing something together and sharing their experiences. □ …a sense of community and fellowship.
fel|on /fe lən/ (felons ) N‑COUNT A felon is a person who is guilty of committing a felony. [LEGAL ] □ He's a convicted felon.
felo|ny /fe ləni/ (felonies ) N‑COUNT In countries where the legal system distinguishes between very serious crimes and less serious ones, a felony is a very serious crime such as armed robbery. [LEGAL ] □ He pleaded guilty to six felonies.
felt /fe lt/
1 Felt is the past tense and past participle of feel .
2 N‑UNCOUNT Felt is a thick cloth made from wool or other fibres packed tightly together.
fe lt-ti p (felt-tips ) N‑COUNT A felt-tip or a felt-tip pen is a pen which has a piece of fibre at the end that the ink comes through.
fem. fem. is a written abbreviation for female or feminine .
fe|male ◆◆◇ /fiː me I l/ (females )
1 ADJ Someone who is female is a woman or a girl. □ …a sixteen-piece dance band with a female singer. □ Only 13 per cent of consultants are female.
2 N‑COUNT Women and girls are sometimes referred to as females when they are being considered as a type. □ Hay fever affects males more than females.
3 ADJ [ADJ n] Female matters and things relate to, belong to, or affect women rather than men. □ …female infertility. □ …a purveyor of female undergarments.
4 N‑COUNT You can refer to any creature that can lay eggs or produce babies from its body as a female . □ Each female will lay just one egg in April or May. ● ADJ Female is also an adjective. □ …the scent given off by the female aphid to attract the male.