feast

Noun · Verb

Synonyms: banquet spread fete fiesta junket feed

WordNet 3.0

Noun (4)

a ceremonial dinner party for many peopleSynonyms: banquet
something experienced with great delight“a feast for the eyes”
a meal that is well prepared and greatly enjoyed“a banquet for the graduating seniors”“the Thanksgiving feast”“they put out quite a spread”Synonyms: banquet spread
an elaborate party (often outdoors)Synonyms: fete fiesta

Verb (3)

partake in a feast or banquetSynonyms: banquet junket
provide a feast or banquet forSynonyms: banquet junket
gratify“feed one's eyes on a gorgeous view”Synonyms: feed

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

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. [1913 Webster]

The seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord.— Ex. xiii. 6.[1913 Webster]

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.— Luke ii. 41.[1913 Webster]

Note: An Ecclesiastical feast is called a immovable feast when it always occurs on the same day of the year; otherwise it is called a movable feast. Easter is a notable movable feast. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

Enough is as good as a feast.— Old Proverb.[1913 Webster]

Belshazzar the King made a great feast to a thousand of his lords.— Dan. v. 1.[1913 Webster]

3.That which is partaken of, or shared in, with delight; something highly agreeable; entertainment. [1913 Webster]

The feast of reason, and the flow of soul.— Pope.[1913 Webster]

Feast day, a holiday; a day set as a solemn commemorative 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 abundance; 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. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

And his sons went and feasted in their houses.— Job. i. 4.[1913 Webster]

2.To be highly gratified or delighted. [1913 Webster]

With my love's picture then my eye doth feast.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

Feast \Feast\, v. t.

1.To entertain with sumptuous provisions; to treat at the table bountifully; as, he was feasted by the king. --Hayward. [1913 Webster]

2.To delight; to gratify; as, to feast the soul. [1913 Webster]

Feast your ears with the music a while.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

The Devil's Dictionary

FEAST, n. A festival. A religious celebration usually signalized by gluttony and drunkenness, frequently in honor of some holy person distinguished for abstemiousness. In the Roman Catholic Church feasts are "movable" and "immovable," but the celebrants are uniformly immovable until they are full. In their earliest development these entertainments took the form of feasts for the dead; such were held by the Greeks, under the name _Nemeseia_, by the Aztecs and Peruvians, as in modern times they are popular with the Chinese; though it is believed that the ancient dead, like the modern, were light eaters. Among the many feasts of the Romans was the _Novemdiale_, which was held, according to Livy, whenever stones fell from heaven.