forage

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forage

/ˈfɒɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ UK
/ˈfoɹɪd͡ʒ/ US
[ˈfo̞ɹɪd͡ʒ] US
/ˈfɑɹɪd͡ʒ/ Ireland, New York City, Philadelphia

Rhymes with -ɒɹɪdʒ

Where it comes from

From Middle English forage, from Old French fourage, forage, a derivative of fuerre (“fodder, straw”), from Frankish *fōdar (“fodder, sheath”), from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (“fodder, feed, sheath”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect, to feed”).

Cognate with Old High German fuotar (German Futter (“fodder, feed”)), Old English fōdor, fōþer (“food, fodder, covering, case, basket”), Dutch voeder (“forage, food, feed”), Danish foder (“fodder, feed”), Icelandic fóðr (“fodder, sheath”). More at fodder, food.

Unrelated to modern French forage (“drilling”), whose first element is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to pierce”).

noun forages

countable, uncountable Fodder for animals, especially cattle and horses. The hermit was apparently somewhat moved to compassion by the anxiety as well as address which the stranger displayed in tending his horse; for, muttering something about provender left for the keeper's palfrey, he dragged out of a recess a bundle of forage, which he spread before the knight's charg
countable, uncountable An act or instance of foraging. He [the lion] from forage will incline to play.
countable, obsolete, uncountable The demand for fodder, etc., by an army from the local population.

verb forages · foraging · foraged

To search for and gather food for animals, particularly cattle and horses. The message said that the party intended to hunt and forage through this region, for a month or two, afore it went back into the Canadas.
To rampage through, gathering and destroying as one goes. And your great-uncle's, Edward the Black Prince, / Who on the French ground play'd a tragedy, / Making defeat on the full power of France, / Whiles his most mighty father on a hill / Stood smiling to behold his lion's whelp / Forage in blood of French nobility.
To rummage. Using the blankets for a basket, we sent up the books, instruments, and clothes to swell our growing midden on the deck; and then Nares, going on hands and knees, began to forage underneath the bed.
Of an animal: to seek out and eat food.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: eatage, pasturage, pasture, scrounge, grass, grazing, fodder, hay, silage, feeding, crop, feed, food, hunt, grassland, eat

Translations

Every language

noun fodder for animals

Español	forraje
한국어	여물 yeomul
日本語	秣 magusa
Português	forragem
Français	fourrage
Deutsch	Fourage, Viehfutter, Pferdefutter
Русский	фура́ж furáž, корм korm
עברית	מספוא mispó

noun act or instance of foraging

Español	forrajeo
Português	coleta, forrageamento
Русский	кормле́ние kormlénije
עברית	אביסה avisá

verb to search for and gather food for animals

Español	forrajear
日本語	飼料さがし
Português	forragear
Français	fourrager
Deutsch	fouragieren
Русский	фуражи́ровать furažírovatʹ

verb to rampage through

Français	fourrager

verb to rummage

Français	fourrager, fouiller
Deutsch	herumsuchen

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Cite this

MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{forage_2026,
  title = {forage},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/forage},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}