Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FEEL, v.t. [pret. and pp. felt. Sax. felan, fælan, gefelan; G. fühlen; D. voelen; allied probably to L. palpo. Qu. W. pwyllaw, to impel. The primary sense is to touch, to pat, to strike gently, or to press, as is evident from the L. palpito, and other derivatives of palpo. If so, the word seems to be allied to L. pello. See Class Bl, No. 8.]

1. To perceive by the touch; to have sensation excited by contact of a thing with the body or limbs. Suffer me that I may feel the pillars. Judges xvi. Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son. Gen. xxvii.
2. To have the sense of; to suffer or enjoy; as, to feet pain; to feel pleasure.
3. To experience, to suffer. Whoso keepeth the commandments shall feel no evil thing. Eccles. viii.
4. To be affected by; to perceive mentally; as, to feel grief or woe. Would I had never trod this English earth, / Or felt the flatteries that grow upon it. Shak.
5. To know; to be acquainted with; to have a real and just view of. For then, and not till then, he felt himself. Shak.
6. To touch; to handle; with or without of. Feel this piece of silk, or feel of it. To feel, or to feel out, is to try; to sound; to search for; to explore; as, to feel or feel out one's opinions or designs. To feel after, to search for; to seek to find; to seek as a person groping in the dark. If haply they might feel after him, and find him. Acts xvii.