Emily Dickinson Lexicon

feather (-s), n. [OE.] (webplay: birds, body, flight, fly, kind, land, nests, open, soft).

1. Plume; quill from a bird's plumage (see Job 39:13); [fig.] bloom; blossom; flower; petal; stamen.
2. Wing; extremity adapted for flight; appendage consisting of a shaft and vanes; [fig.] iridescence; opalescence; delicate layers of color that refract light.
3. Single unit of a bird's wing.
4. Appendage used for flying; [fig.] butterfly wing.
5. Means of transportation through the air; [fig.] transport; transcendence; extasy; exaltation; rapture.
6. Protective covering; outer gear; [fig.] physical body; mortal frame.
7. Cockade; decoration; ornament.
8. Mobility; means of flight; [metonymy] bird; flying creature.