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!