feller
feller Lexical Profile
feller Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An informal or regional term for a man, boy, or male companion (representing a colloquial pronunciation of 'fellow').
"The old feller sitting on the porch waved kindly as the neighborhood children walked past."
A person or heavy forestry machine that cuts down trees.
"The experienced timber feller carefully assessed the lean of the pine before making the first cut."
A sewing machine attachment used for folding under and stitching the raw edges of fabric to create a flat felled seam.
"She attached the narrow feller to her sewing machine to finish the durable seams on the denim work shirt."
• adjective
More fierce, cruel, deadly, or destructive (comparative form of the literary adjective 'fell').
"The winter storm proved feller and more relentless than any the villagers had endured in decades."
Word Nuance & Usage
In informal and regional speech, 'feller' (along with 'fella') represents a non-rhotic or intrusive-R pronunciation of 'fellow'; in forestry and sewing, however, it is a regular agent noun derived from the verb 'to fell'.
• Rhymes for feller
Word Origin & Etymology
As an informal term for a man or boy, it represents a 19th-century phonetic spelling of 'fellow'. In forestry and sewing, it derives from Middle English 'fellen' (to cause to fall or to fold down a seam) plus the agentive suffix '-er'.