Hypertext Webster Gateway: "feeler"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Feeler \Feel"er\, n.
1. One who, or that which, feels.
2. (Zo["o]l.) One of the sense organs or certain animals (as
insects), which are used in testing objects by touch and
in searching for food; an antenna; a palp.
Insects . . . perpetually feeling and searching
before them with their feelers or antenn[ae].
--Derham.
3. Anything, as a proposal, observation, etc., put forth or
thrown out in order to ascertain the views of others;
something tentative.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
feeler
n 1: one of a pair of mobile appendages on the head of e.g.
insects and crustaceans; typically sensitive to touch
and taste [syn: {antenna}]
2: a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of
others; "she rejected his advances" [syn: {overture}, {advance},
{approach}]
3: sensitivity similar to that of a receptor organ; "he had a
special antenna for public relations" [syn: {antenna}]
4: slender tactile process on the jaws of a fish [syn: {barbel}]
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