C 羽毛 any of the many light fringed structures that grow from a bird's skin and cover its body

　feather　表示“羽毛”时，是可数名词；用于比喻时表示“服装”“心情”等，可用作可数名词，也可用作不可数名词。

　have ～s　有羽毛
　pluck a ～　拔羽毛
　make the ～s fly　引起争吵〔斗争〕
　show the white ～　显示懦弱，表现胆怯
　beautiful ～s　美丽的羽毛
　fine ～s　好羽毛，好的外表
　white ～s　白色的羽毛
　tail ～s　尾巴上的长翎毛，尾翎毛
　in fine〔good〕 ～　情绪很好
　in full ～　穿着盛装
　in high ～　情绪很好
　knock sb down with a ～　使某人十分惊奇

　Fine feathers do not make fine birds.　光有漂亮的羽毛还不能称之为好鸟。
　The cushion is filled with feathers.　垫子里充满了羽毛。
　His death is as light as a feather.　他的死轻如鸿毛。
　Good food and lots of sleep put me into the fine feather.　吃好睡足使我精力充沛。
　Jane is in fine feather today.　简今天精神好。
　Many women go to the theatre merely for the sake of showing fine feathers.　许多妇女去戏院只是为了显示一下漂亮的衣服。
　Birds of a feather flock together.　（谚语）物以类聚，人以群分。

 ♣ a feather in sb's cap
　某人卓越的成就，某人值得自豪的荣誉　an honour that sb can be justly proud of
　They want you to photograph the Queen?That'll be quite a feather in your cap!　他们要你给女王拍照吗?那可是一件可以引以为自豪的殊荣啊！
　Sir Joseph's knighthood was the final feather in his cap after years of dedicated service to the community.　约瑟夫爵士的爵士地位是他数年服务于社区的最高荣誉。
　It was a feather in his cap to win the Nobel Prize.　获得诺贝尔奖对他是至高的荣誉。
 ♣ be spitting feathers
　非常愤怒〔口渴〕 be very angry〔thirsty〕
　Len was spitting feathers when he saw what some vandal had done to his new car.　莱恩看到他的新车遭到破坏时非常生气。
　We had trekked five miles across the moors and I was spitting feathers when fortunately we came across a small country pub.　我们在荒野里艰苦跋涉了5英里，我正口渴时幸运地发现了一个乡村酒店。
 ♣ make the feather〔fur, sparks〕 fly
　〈非正〉引起争论或争斗　 cause a quarrel or fight
　When Derek found Bob had damaged his bicycle, it really made the feathers fly!　当德里克发现鲍勃弄坏了他的自行车时，一场争吵无可避免地要发生了。
 ♣ ruffle sb's feathers
　使某人发怒，使某人烦恼　make sb slightly angry or upset
　He was hoping I wouldn't be there, and I think my presence rather ruffled his feathers.　他当时希望我不在，我认为我的出现使他很恼火。
　Everyone knew her as a woman of great calm, but the rumours going round the village about her private life certainly ruffled her feathers.　大家都认为她是一个极安详的女人，但有关她私生活的谣言在村里到处流传，着实使她心烦意乱。
 ♣ smooth one's ruffled〔rumpled〕 feathers
　镇定下来，平息某人的怒气或怨气　make sb feel less angry or offended
　After the argument, she retreated to the bedroom to smooth her ruffled feathers.　争论之后她回到寝室让自己镇定下来。

　feather　用作动词表示“将羽毛覆盖或装在某物上”。例如：
　feather an arrow　给箭装上羽毛

　［词源］　中古英语fether<古英语fether（羽）