feel for
verb1
Idiomatic To experience sympathy for, to sympathise with.
- I feel for him: he’s lost two family members in two months.
2
Idiomatic To search for something by touching (as with one’s hand in a bag).
- He felt for his purse.
- Harry felt for his purse in his left-hand trousers pocket, but it was not there. He then tried his right-hand trousers pocket, but it was not there. He then tested the left hand pocket of his vest, but it was not there. He then explored the right-hand pocket of his vest, but it was not there. He then darted a hand into each of the pockets of his shooting-jacket, but it was not there.1896, Stephen Wyke, The Yorkshire Cousins, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Company, Limited, →OCLC, page 15: