1. FEEBLE, A. AND N.
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A. adj.

    1. Of persons or animals, their limbs or organs: Lacking strength,
weak, infirm. Now implying an extreme degree of weakness, and suggesting
either pity or contempt. {dag}Const. of, also to with inf.

    {dag}2.    a. Of things: Having little strength; weak, frail,
fragile; slight, slender. Of a fortress, etc.: Having little power of
resistance. Obs.

    b. spec. with reference to a sword. [ad. F. faible: see B. 4.]

    3. Lacking intellectual or moral strength.

    {dag}4.    a. Wanting in resources; ill-supplied, poor. Const. of.
Obs.

    {dag}b. Of a grant of money, a meal: Scanty. Obs.

    {dag}5.    a. Of inferior quality, poor, mean. Often said of
clothing, food, dwelling, etc. Obs.

    {dag}b. Of a period, event, etc.: Miserable, illstarred, unhappy.
Obs.

    {dag}c. In moral sense: Mean, base. Obs.

    6. Wanting in energy, force, or effect.    a. of natural agents,
powers, qualities, or operations.

    b. of the mind, thoughts, etc.

    c. of actions, feelings, utterances, etc.

    7. Of an effect, phenomenon, etc.: Faintly perceptible, indistinct.

    8. quasi-adv. = FEEBLY.

    9. Comb., parasynthetic, as, feeble-bodied, -eyed, -framed, -hearted,
-minded (whence feeble-mindedness), -winged.

    B. n.

    1. A feeble person.

  (Quots. 1631 and 1826 refer to K. Hen. IV, III. ii. 179.)

    {dag}2. Weakness, feebleness. Obs.

  Only in phrase for feeble, which may be explained as ellipsis = `For
feeble that one is'; the substantival character of the sense is thus
doubtful.

    3. = FOIBLE 1.

    4. Fencing. The portion of a sword from the middle to the point; =
FOIBLE 2.

2. FEEBLE, V.
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1. intr. To become or grow feeble. Now arch.

    {dag}2. trans. To make feeble; to enfeeble, weaken. Obs. exc. arch.

    Hence {sm}feebled ppl. a.; {sm}feebling vbl. n. and ppl. a.