banquet
Americannoun
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a lavish meal; feast.
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a ceremonious public dinner, especially one honoring a person, benefiting a charity, etc.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a lavish and sumptuous meal; feast
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a ceremonial meal for many people, often followed by speeches
verb
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(intr) to hold or take part in a banquet
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(tr) to entertain or honour (a person) with a banquet
Usage
What does banquet mean? A banquet is a feast, as in Theo likes to host banquets so he can cook all his favorite foods for others.A banquet is also a public dinner, often very fancy and benefiting a charity or celebrating a person, as in Mac likes to organize the sports banquet at the end of the year for all the school’s teams.A banquet is basically a feast for a lot of people. It’s a large, sumptuous meal during a ceremonious gathering. Banquets can be arranged to benefit a charity or to celebrate a specific person or group of people.To banquet means to entertain with a banquet or to have a banquet.You’ll often hear the phrase banqueting hall, which is a room, especially in large medieval buildings, that is big enough to hold a banquet.Example: Doreen hosted a banquet to raise money for a children’s charity.
Related Words
See feast.
Other Word Forms
- banqueteer noun
- banqueter noun
Etymology
Origin of banquet
First recorded in 1450–1500; from Middle French, from Italian banchetto ( banc(o) “table” ( bank 2 ) + -etto -et ); replacing late Middle English bankat, banket(te), from Middle French
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ana Mendez, 43, who has worked as a banquet server at J.W.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026
Outside the banquet hall after the Paxton event had ended, Paul Barbieri and a friend stood by their pickup truck wondering what all the commotion had been about.
From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026
Local chapters of National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame have begun honoring the top senior football student-athletes, with the Coastal Canyon area banquet set for Sunday in Agoura.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2026
George Clooney hosts an opulent banquet for GrubHub, a food delivery app.
From Barron's • Feb. 6, 2026
His eyes had glowed like fire at the banquet, but now they looked less fiery and more like...copper.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
