Adjacent Words

Feast definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FEAST, n. [L. festum.]
1. A sumptuous repast or entertainment, of which a number of guests partake; particularly, a rich or splendid public entertainment.
On Pharaoh's birth day, he made a feast to all his servants. Genesis 40.
2. A rich or delicious repast or meal; something delicious to the palate.
3. A ceremony of feasting; joy and thanksgiving on stated days, in commemoration of some great event, or in honor of some distinguished personage; an anniversary, periodical or stated celebration of some event; a festival; as on occasion of the games in Greece, and the feast of the passover, the feast of Pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles among the Jews.
4. Something delicious and entertaining to the mind or soul; as the dispensation of the gospel is called a feast of fat things. Isaiah 25.
5. That which delights and entertains.
He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
Proverbs 15.
In the English church, feasts are immovable or movable; immovable, when they occur on the same day of the year, as Christmas day, etc.; and movable, when they are not confined to the same day of the year, as Easter, which regulates many others.
FEAST, v.i.
1. To eat sumptuously; to dine or sup on rich provisions; particularly in large companies, and on public festivals.
And his sons went and feasted in their houses. Job 1.
2. To be highly gratified or delighted.
FEAST, v.t.
1. To entertain with sumptuous provisions; to treat at the table magnificently; as, he was feasted by the king.
2. To delight; to pamper; to gratify luxuriously; as, to feast the soul.
Whose taste or smell can bless the feasted sense.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a ceremonial dinner party for many people [syn: banquet, feast]
2: something experienced with great delight; "a feast for the eyes"
3: a meal that is well prepared and greatly enjoyed; "a banquet for the graduating seniors"; "the Thanksgiving feast"; "they put out quite a spread" [syn: banquet, feast, spread]
4: an elaborate party (often outdoors) [syn: fete, feast, fiesta] v
1: partake in a feast or banquet [syn: feast, banquet, junket]
2: provide a feast or banquet for [syn: feast, banquet, junket]
3: gratify; "feed one's eyes on a gorgeous view" [syn: feed, feast]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English feste, from Anglo-French, from Latin festa, plural of festum festival, from neuter of festus solemn, festal; akin to Latin feriae holidays, fanum temple Date: 13th century 1. a. an elaborate and usually abundant meal often accompanied by a ceremony or entertainment ; banquet b. (1) something that gives unusual or abundant enjoyment <a visual feast> (2) abundance, profusion <an unprecedented feast of corruption, gargantuan in scale — Neil Sheehan> 2. a periodic religious observance commemorating an event or honoring a deity, person, or thing II. verb Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. to take part in a feast 2. to enjoy some unusual pleasure or delight transitive verb 1. to give a feast for 2. delight, gratify <feasting our eyes on the scenery> • feaster noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a large or sumptuous meal. 2 a gratification to the senses or mind. 3 a an annual religious celebration. b a day dedicated to a particular saint. 4 an annual village festival. --v. 1 intr. partake of a feast; eat and drink sumptuously. 2 tr. a regale. b pass (time) in feasting. Phrases and idioms: feast-day a day on which a feast (esp. in sense 3) is held. feast one's eyes on take pleasure in beholding. feast of reason intellectual talk. Derivatives: feaster n. Etymology: ME f. OF feste, fester f. L festus joyous

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Feast Feast (f[=e]st), n. [OE. feste festival, holiday, feast, OF. feste festival, F. f[^e]te, fr. L. festum, pl. festa, fr. festus joyful, festal; of uncertain origin. Cf. Fair, n., Festal, F[^e]te.] 1. A festival; a holiday; a solemn, or more commonly, a joyous, anniversary. The seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. --Ex. xiii. 6. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. --Luke ii. 41. Note: Ecclesiastical fasts are called immovable when they always occur on the same day of the year; otherwise they are called movable. 2. A festive or joyous meal; a grand, ceremonious, or sumptuous entertainment, of which many guests partake; a banquet characterized by tempting variety and abundance of food. Enough is as good as a feast. --Old Proverb. Belshazzar the King made a great feast to a thousand of his lords. --Dan. v. 1. 3. That which is partaken of, or shared in, with delight; something highly agreeable; entertainment. The feast of reason, and the flow of soul. --Pope. Feast day, a holiday; a day set as a solemn commemo?ative festival. Syn: Entertainment; regale; banquet; treat; carousal; festivity; festival. Usage: Feast, Banquet, Festival, Carousal. A feast sets before us viands superior in quantity, variety, and abudance; a banquet is a luxurious feast; a festival is the joyful celebration by good cheer of some agreeable event. Carousal is unrestrained indulgence in frolic and drink.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Feast Feast, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Feasted; p. pr. & vb. n. Feasting.] [OE. festen, cf. OF. fester to rest from work, F. f[^e]ter to celebrate a holiday. See Feast, n.] 1. To eat sumptuously; to dine or sup on rich provisions, particularly in large companies, and on public festivals. And his sons went and feasted in their houses. --Job. i. 4. 2. To be highly gratified or delighted. With my love's picture then my eye doth feast. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Feast Feast, v. t. 1. To entertain with sumptuous provisions; to treat at the table bountifully; as, he was feasted by the king. --Hayward. 2. To delight; to gratify; as, to feast the soul. Feast your ears with the music a while. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(feasts, feasting, feasted) 1. A feast is a large and special meal. Lunch was a feast of meat and vegetables, cheese, yoghurt and fruit, with unlimited wine... The fruit was often served at wedding feasts... = banquet N-COUNT 2. If you feast on a particular food, you eat a large amount of it with great enjoyment. They feasted well into the afternoon on mutton and corn stew... VERB: V on n 3. If you feast, you take part in a feast. Only a few feet away, their captors feasted in the castle's banqueting hall. VERB: V • feasting The feasting, drinking, dancing and revelry continued for several days. 4. A feast is a day or time of the year when a special religious celebration takes place. The Jewish feast of Passover began last night... = festival N-COUNT 5. If you feast your eyes on something, you look at it for a long time with great attention because you find it very attractive. She stood feasting her eyes on the view. PHRASE: V inflects

Easton's Bible Dictionary

as a mark of hospitality (Gen. 19:3; 2 Sam. 3:20; 2 Kings 6:23); on occasions of domestic joy (Luke 15:23; Gen. 21:8); on birthdays (Gen. 40:20; Job 1:4; Matt. 14:6); and on the occasion of a marriage (Judg. 14:10; Gen. 29:22).

Feasting was a part of the observances connected with the offering up of sacrifices (Deut. 12:6, 7; 1 Sam. 9:19; 16:3, 5), and with the annual festivals (Deut. 16:11). "It was one of the designs of the greater solemnities, which required the attendance of the people at the sacred tent, that the oneness of the nation might be maintained and cemented together, by statedly congregating in one place, and with one soul taking part in the same religious services. But that oneness was primarily and chiefly a religious and not merely a political one; the people were not merely to meet as among themselves, but with Jehovah, and to present themselves before him as one body; the meeting was in its own nature a binding of themselves in fellowship with Jehovah; so that it was not politics and commerce that had here to do, but the soul of the Mosaic dispensation, the foundation of the religious and political existence of Israel, the covenant with Jehovah. To keep the people's consciousness alive to this, to revive, strengthen, and perpetuate it, nothing could be so well adapated as these annual feasts." (See FESTIVALS.)

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Banquet, treat, entertainment, carousal, regale, sumptuous repast. 2. Festival, holiday, fête, day of feasting, festive celebration, joyful anniversary, day of rejoicing, festal day. 3. Enjoyment, delight. II. v. n. Eat (plentifully), be entertained, fare sumptuously. III. v. a. 1. Entertain sumptuously, feed luxuriously. 2. Delight, gratify, rejoice, gladden.

Moby Thesaurus

High Holiday, High Holy Day, Lucullan feast, Mardi Gras, Sabbath, Saturnalia, Sunday, allay, anniversary, appease, assuage, bank holiday, banquet, bean-feast, beano, birthday, blow, blowout, board, bread, bread and butter, carnival, celebration, cheer, church calendar, church feast, comestibles, commemoration, creature comfort, cuisine, daily bread, day of festivities, day off, delight, dine, do, do justice to, eat heartily, eat up, eatables, ecclesiastical calendar, edibles, entertain, entertainment, event, fair, fare, fare well, fast, fast food, feast day, feed, festal board, festival, festival day, festive occasion, festivity, fete, fete day, field day, fiesta, fixed feast, food, food and drink, foodstuff, gala, gala affair, gala day, gladden, gormandize, gratification, gratify, great doings, groaning board, health food, high day, high jinks, holiday, holy day, holytide, ingesta, jamboree, joyance, jubilation, jubilee, junk food, kermis, kitchen stuff, legal holiday, mad round, meal, meat, memorialization, merrymaking, observance, occasion, overindulge, party, picnic, please, pleasure, polish the platter, provender, provision, put it away, quench, red-letter day, refreshment, regale, regalement, repast, revel, revelment, revelry, rite, ritual, round of pleasures, sate, satiate, satisfy, slake, solemnization, spread, sustenance, table, treat, tucker, viands, victuals, vittles, waygoose, wayzgoose, wine and dine