be spoon-fed

be spoon-fed

1. Literally, to have food inserted into one's mouth by another person. My mother had to be spoon-fed for a while after her stroke. No, my daughter is off the bottle now—she's spoon-fed.
2. By extension, to be helped excessively by someone else (usually to the recipient's detriment). Those students are lazy because they are always spoon-fed the answers by their teacher. The actress got so flustered in front of the camera that she had to be spoon-fed her lines. How unprofessional!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • spoon-fed
  • spoon-feed
  • spoon-feed (someone)
  • blow smoke
  • spoon out
  • spoon up
  • breathe (new) life into (someone or something)
  • breathe life into
  • breathe life into something
  • flake spoon
References in periodicals archive
Homework is supposed to be done by children so that they learn to be independent and not be spoon-fed. Not a single student has commented about their experience in the published article.
Homework is not a curse
Some 300 of them will be spoon-fed small doses of insulin powder until they are aged three.
Docs testing tots in bid to halt diabetes
He said although residents of Lepashe had been classified as Rural Area Dwellers (RADs) that should not be an excuse for them to expect to be spoon-fed, adding that it was upon them to utilise government programmes to uplift their lives.
Let us do it ourselves - Tshabisa
In my mother's case, she eventually needed to be spoon-fed until she quietly died in her sleep.
Ethics, Alzheimer's, and feeding tubes
The dancer who needs to be spoon-fed ..." He lets the thought hang, shrugging his shoulders.
Tough love: Mihailo Djuric is taking Festival Ballet Providence to center stage
Waiting to be spoon-fed orders, I struggled to find a role for myself, and felt afraid to ask advice from the busy people around me.
My student fret
"At home, Rhys needs to be spoon-fed. He won't feed himself, except for biscuits and he just drops food back out of his mouth if he doesn't want it.
Family's joy at huge improvement in Rhys
I couldn't exercise or think straight and, sometimes, I had to be spoon-fed since my jaw wouldn't open!
About face: more and more teen girls are willing to do almost anything to look good, including going under the knife. But with all the possible dangers involved, both physical and emotional, is plastic surgery really such a smart move?
But, as the crippling genetic disorder which grips her body takes tighter hold, she'll be spoon-fed her Christmas dinner in front of her loved ones this year.
"I'm not looking forward to Christmas dinner this year, because I will have to be spoon-fed like a baby in front of everyone.
MY BODY IS SLOWLY TURNING TO STONE; At only 21, Jacqueline faces a life trapped in the cage her own bones are slowly creating
I find it hard to believe that the majority of Mexican viewers are so completely disinterested in the news of the day that they have to be spoon-fed fluff.
Letter to Our Readers
Such convenience accommodates both the lazy ones who want to be spoon-fed and the authorities who view themselves as far more capable than the laity of finding truth.
The Psychology of Biblicism
Given her combativeness and reluctance to be spoon-fed, Mrs.
A hard policy to swallow
The campmates have been moaning non-stop about how hungry they are - particularly David Gest who had to be spoon-fed rice by Matt Willis.
They're laziest lot ever; I'M A CELEB: GIRLS ON TOP
Where once she had to be spoon-fed, she now tucks into four meals a day.
Girl, 5, on a diet for growth