Translation guide
The English verb 'feed' covers giving food to people, animals, or machines, as well as supplying materials or data. Japanese uses different verbs depending on what is being fed and the relationship.
To provide food to someone or an animal so they can eat.
Causative form of 食べる (to eat), meaning 'to make/let eat'. Used for feeding people or animals. Can imply forcing or allowing, depending on context.
I feed my child vegetables.
I fed the dog some dog food.
Literally 'give feed/bait'. Common for feeding animals, especially pets or livestock. やる is casual; use あげる for politeness.
Don't forget to feed the cat.
I fed the goldfish.
More formal, 'provide a meal'. Used for people in care settings or formal contexts.
Feed the hospitalized patients.
Specifically means to breastfeed or bottle-feed a baby.
The mother fed her baby.
To put something like paper, fuel, or data into a device or process.
General verb 'put in'. Works for feeding paper into a printer, coins into a machine, etc.
Feed paper into the printer.
I fed money into the copier.
Means 'supply'. Used for continuous feeding of materials, fuel, or data.
Feed fuel to the machine.
Means 'send'. Used for feeding signals or data.
To supply money or resources for a person or group.
To fuel or gratify an emotion, curiosity, or ego.
Means 'to satisfy'. Used with nouns like 好奇心 (curiosity) or 欲望 (desire).
His story fed my curiosity.
Means 'to fan' or 'stir up'. Used for feeding negative emotions like fear or anger.
The rumor fed anxiety.
食べさせる is a causative verb that can be used for both people and animals. 餌をやる is specifically for animals and implies giving feed. For pets, 餌をあげる is more polite than 餌をやる.
I fed the dog (polite).
The loanword フィードする exists but is mainly used in technical contexts (e.g., social media feeds). For general feeding, use native Japanese verbs.
システムにデータを供給する。
Feed data into the system.
Feed a signal to the antenna.
She works to feed her children.