felt

felt — verb

1. the form of the verb 'feel' that shows an action, emotion, or physical sensation

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveA1
Definition

the form of the verb 'feel' that shows an action, emotion, or physical sensation happened or existed before the present moment.

Example

Ryo felt a cold breeze as soon as he opened the window.

simple past: felt + noun phrase for a sensation

The elderly woman felt a warm sense of relief when her son arrived safely.

Common collocations
  • felt + adjective (felt cold, felt tired, felt nervous)
  • felt + noun phrase (felt a pain, felt a breeze, felt a touch)
  • felt + like + noun/gerund (felt like rain, felt like crying)

Grammar Patterns

felt + noun phrase (simple past)

felt + adjective (simple past)

had/have + felt + past participle

Usage Note

This is not a separate meaning of 'felt' — it is the past tense and past participle of the verb 'feel'. Use this form any time you talk about a feeling, emotion, or physical sensation that occurred in the past. The simple past (e.g. 'She felt happy') describes a completed past event; the past participle (e.g. 'She has felt happy') is used in perfect tenses and passive structures.

Common Mistakes

I feeled happy yesterday.
I felt happy yesterday.
'feel' is irregular; its past form is 'felt', not 'feeled'.

2. to press wool, hair, or synthetic fibres together using moisture, heat, and pres

2.verbtransitive / intransitiveC1
Definition

to press wool, hair, or synthetic fibres together using moisture, heat, and pressure so that they become a thick, soft fabric; or to attach such fabric as a layer over a surface.

Example

Lien learned how to felt wool by rubbing the wet fibres between her hands.

transitive: felt + wool (material as object)

The woollen scarf from Tariq's grandmother felted into a stiff mess after a hot wash.

intransitive: fibres felt together

Common collocations
  • felt wool
  • felt fibres
  • felt together
  • felt a surface with [material]
Synonyms
  • mat

    focuses on fibres tangling together, less specific to the felting process

  • compress

    more general (pressing anything), lacks the moisture/heat aspect of felting

  • full

    technical term in textile manufacturing for shrinking and thickening wool fabric through moisture and heat

Antonyms
  • unravel

    opposite action — fibres separating instead of matting together

Grammar Patterns

felt + material (transitive)

felt + object + with + material (cover with felt)

material + felts (intransitive, becomes felt)

Usage Note

When transitive, the object is either the fibre being processed ('felt the wool') or the surface being covered ('felt the roof'). When intransitive, the fibres themselves are the subject, describing the natural matting process ('the wool felts easily').

Common Mistakes

She felted her hair into a hat.
She felted wool into a hat.
the object must be the raw fibre, not the person; 'felted' on a person means 'felt' (past tense of 'feel') and is spelled the same but is a different word.

felt — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Felt, fabric, cloth, and textile are all terms for manufactured materials, but they differ in how the material is made. Fabric is the broadest term — it covers any woven, knitted, or bonded material used for clothing, upholstery, or crafts. Cloth usually refers to woven fabric that is finished and ready to be sewn into a specific item; it is a subset of fabric. Textile is an industry term for any fibre-based material at any stage of production, including woven, knitted, and non-woven types. Felt is a specific subtype of non-woven textile — it is made by pressing fibres together with heat and moisture rather than weaving or knitting them into threads. For example, a woollen jacket is made of fabric or cloth, but if the material is soft and matted without visible threads, it is felt. A woven scarf is cloth; a pressed wool hat is felt.

fabric ↗cloth ↗textile ↗material ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • felt hat
  • felt pen
  • felt tip
  • felt board
  • felt pad
  • felt lining
  • felt layer

Phrases

  • a piece of felt
  • a sheet of felt
  • a strip of felt
  • a layer of felt

Prepositions

  • made of felt
  • made from felt
  • covered in felt
  • lined with felt

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

Felt comes from the Old English word 'felt', which traces back to a Proto-Germanic root '*feltą'. This root is linked to the idea of 'beating' or 'pressing' — an ancient reference to how animal fibres were beaten together under heat and moisture to create the fabric. The word is related to the Latin 'pellis' (skin or hide), suggesting an early connection between animal skins and fibre-based materials.