[syn: orgy, debauch, debauchery, saturnalia, riot, bacchanal, bacchanalia, drunken revelry]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Orgy \Or"gy\, n.; pl. Orgies.
A frantic revel; drunken revelry. See Orgies
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Orgy \Or"gy\, n.; sing. Orgies. [F. orgie, orgies, L. orgia,
pl., Gr. ?; akin to ? work. See Organ, and Work.]
[1913 Webster]
1. A sacrifice accompanied by certain ceremonies in honor of
some pagan deity; especially, the ceremonies observed by
the Greeks and Romans in the worship of Dionysus, or
Bacchus, which were characterized by wild and dissolute
revelry. Usually in the plural form.
Note: [The singular is rarely used in this sense.]
[1913 Webster]
As when, with crowned cups, unto the Elian god,
Those priests high orgies held. --Drayton.
[1913 Webster]
2. Wild, drunken, or licentious revelry; an uninhibited
carouse. --B. Jonson. --Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
3. A series of sexual activities involving more than two
couples in a group.
[PJC]
4. Hence: An event characterized by unrestrained indulgence
in passion; as, an orgy of buying of internet stocks.
[PJC]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
orgy
n 1: any act of immoderate indulgence; "an orgy of shopping";
"an emotional binge"; "a splurge of spending" [syn: orgy,
binge, splurge]
2: secret rite in the cults of ancient Greek or Roman deities
involving singing and dancing and drinking and sexual
activity
3: a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity
[syn: orgy, debauch, debauchery, saturnalia, riot,
bacchanal, bacchanalia, drunken revelry]