feast

[ feest ]

/ fist /

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See synonyms for: feast / feasting on Thesaurus.com

noun

any rich or abundant meal: The steak dinner was a feast.

a sumptuous entertainment or meal for many guests: a wedding feast.

something highly agreeable: The Rembrandt exhibition was a feast for the eyes.

a periodical celebration or time of celebration, usually of a religious nature, commemorating an event, person, etc.: Every year, in September, the townspeople have a feast in honor of their patron saint.

verb (used without object)

to have or partake of a feast; eat sumptuously.

to dwell with gratification or delight, as on a picture or view.

verb (used with object)

to provide or entertain with a feast.

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON PARENTHESES AND BRACKETS APLENTY!

Set some time apart to test your bracket symbol knowledge, and see if you can keep your parentheses, squares, curlies, and angles all straight!

Question 1 of 7

Let’s start with some etymology: What are the origins of the typographical word “bracket”?

First appeared around 1750, and is related to the French word “braguette” for the name of codpiece armor.

First appeared in 1610, based on the French word “baguette” for the long loaf of bread.

First appeared in 1555, and is related to the French word “raquette” for a netted bat.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms for feast

feast one's eyes, to gaze with great joy, admiration, or relish: to feast one's eyes on the Grand Canyon.

Origin of feast

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English feste, from Old French, from Latin fēsta, neuter plural (reinterpteted as feminine singular noun in Vulgar Latin ) of fēstus “festal, festive,” equivalent to fēs- (akin to fair²) + -tus adjective suffix

synonym study for feast

2. Feast, banquet imply large social events, with an abundance of food. A feast is a meal with a plenteous supply of food and drink for a large company: to provide a feast for all company employees. A banquet is an elaborate feast for a formal and ceremonious occasion: the main speaker at a banquet.

OTHER WORDS FROM feast

feaster, nounfeastless, adjectiveoutfeast, verb (used with object)o·ver·feast, verb

pre·feast, nounun·feast·ed, adjective

Words nearby feast

fearsome, feasance, feasibility, feasibility study, feasible, feast, feast day, Feast of Dedication, Feast of Fools, Feast of Lanterns, Feast of Lights

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for feast

In deep water, where relatively few animals live, the feast may last for years.
Whales get a second life as deep-sea buffets|Stephen Ornes|October 15, 2020|Science News For Students
One day, she wins the lottery, and instead of using the money to finally go back home, she uses it to prepare a lavish feast in honor of the sect’s founder.
10 delicious food movies|Alissa Wilkinson|September 25, 2020|Vox
A feast of comedies, dramas, documentaries, and more to stream at home.
10 delicious food movies|Alissa Wilkinson|September 25, 2020|Vox
Here are 10 great films you can stream about feasts, food, family, and what cooking and eating teach us about being human.
10 delicious food movies|Alissa Wilkinson|September 25, 2020|Vox

Eager as ad buyers were for major sports like the NBA and NFL to return to TV, many were anxious about how the volume of sports on TV going from famine to feast would affect viewership.
‘Significant under-delivery’: TV advertisers grapple with glut of live sports affecting viewership|Tim Peterson|September 24, 2020|Digiday
It was known as the feast of Akitu, and it was celebrated in April.
New Year’s Eve, Babylon Style|Candida Moss|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The mythic origin of the feast was the creation of the world by the god Marduk.
New Year’s Eve, Babylon Style|Candida Moss|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Given the somewhat macabre origins of the feast, many of the celebrations were designed to placate the gods.
New Year’s Eve, Babylon Style|Candida Moss|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Feast your eyes on the ‘top-grain leather,’ ‘original’ design, gilded pages.
Rand Paul’s Many Leather-Bound Books|Olivia Nuzzi|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then feast your ears on this 1969 Bill Cosby routine about drugging and seducing women.
The Bill Cosby Controversy Stages of Grief|Amy Zimmerman|November 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In both cases the decision was made at a feast, and in favour of the one who “loved much.”
Solomon and Solomonic Literature|Moncure Daniel Conway
They were just about to celebrate tabagie, or a solemn feast, over his last farewell.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. II: Acadia, 1612-1614|Various
In the spring of 1880 she went again to Paris, only to "feast on things artistic."
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
Death comes in, the bread at the feast turns black, the hound falls down—and so on.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
But strangest of all the dishes at the Tagal's feast was one prepared from a kind of beetle.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin|Mary Hazelton Wade

British Dictionary definitions for feast

feast

/ (fiːst) /

noun

a large and sumptuous meal, usually given as an entertainment for several people

a periodic religious celebration

something extremely pleasing or sumptuousa feast for the eyes

movable feast a festival or other event of variable date

verb

(intr)

to eat a feast
(usually foll by on) to enjoy the eating (of), as if feastingto feast on cakes

(tr) to give a feast to

(intr foll by on) to take great delight (in)to feast on beautiful paintings

(tr) to regale or delightto feast one's mind or one's eyes

Derived forms of feast

feaster, noun

Word Origin for feast

C13: from Old French feste, from Latin festa, neuter plural (later assumed to be feminine singular) of festus joyful; related to Latin fānum temple, fēriae festivals

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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