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feague

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feague¹

  • /fiːɡ/ UK

Rhymes with -iːɡ

Where it comes from

From Dutch vegen (“to sweep, strike”), from Middle Dutch vēghen (“to cleanse”), from Old Dutch *fegōn (“to cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *faginōn, from Proto-Germanic *faginōną (“to decorate, make beautiful”), from Proto-Indo-European *pōḱ-, *pēḱ- (“to clean, to adorn”).

Cognate with Danish feje (“to sweep”), German fegen (“to cleanse, scour, sweep”), Icelandic fægja (“to polish”), Swedish feja (“to sweep”). More at fay, fair, fake.

verb feagues · feaguing · feagued

  1. To increase the liveliness of a horse by inserting an irritant, such as a piece of peeled raw ginger or a live eel, in its anus. FEAGUE, to feague a horse; to put ginger up a horse's fundament, to make him lively, and carry his tail well; it is said, a forfeit is incurred by any horse dealer's servant, who shall show a horse without first feagueing him, used figuratively for encouraging or spiriting one up.

    Similar: ginger

  2. obsolete To beat or whip; to drive. Dol[l]. (aside). Oh, if I wist this old priest would not sticke to me, by Ioue, I would ingle this old seruing-man. / Harp[oole]. Oh you old mad colt! yfaith, Ile feak you! fil all the pots in the house there.

    Similar: flog

  3. obsolete To subject to some harmful scheme; to ‘do in’. Sir Sim[on Addlepot]. I vvill carry the VViddovv to the French Houſe. / [Mrs.] Joyn[er]. If ſhe vvill goe. / Sir Sim. If ſhe vvill go; vvhy, did you ever knovv a VVidovv refuſe a treat? no more than a Lavvyer a Fee faith and troth; yet I know too. / No treat, ſvveet words, good meen, but ſly Intrigu
  4. obsolete To have sexual intercourse with. Come, brother Cockwood, let us get 'em / To lay aſide theſe masking Fopperies, and then / We'll fegue 'em in earneſt: Give us a bottle, Waiter.

    Similar: coitize

Similar: lash, go to bed with, sleep with

feague²

  • /fiːɡ/ UK

Rhymes with -iːɡ

Where it comes from

Possibly from Dutch feeks, probably from vegen (“to sweep, strike”): see etymology of feague (verb) above. Compare Middle English vecke (“old woman”).

noun feagues

  1. obsolete An unkempt, slatternly person. So Jack enters: / And trips up staires, as quick, as come penny, / Where we find, what's before good company! / Three female idle feaks, who long'd for pigs head.

Thesaurus

verb

Similar: lash, go to bed with, sleep with

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MLA

"feague." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/feague. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

feague. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/feague

Chicago

"feague." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/feague.

BibTeX
@misc{feague_2026,
  title = {feague},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/feague},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}