feast Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a ceremonial dinner party for many people
    banquet.
  2. noun something experienced with great delight
    • a feast for the eyes
  3. noun a meal that is well prepared and greatly enjoyed
    spread; banquet.
    • a banquet for the graduating seniors
    • the Thanksgiving feast
    • they put out quite a spread
  4. noun an elaborate party (often outdoors)
    fiesta; fete.
  5. verb partake in a feast or banquet
    banquet; junket.
  6. verb provide a feast or banquet for
    banquet; junket.
  7. verb gratify
    feed.
    • feed one's eyes on a gorgeous view

WordNet

Feast noun
Etymology
OE. feste festival, holiday, feast, OF. feste festival, F. fête, fr. L. festum, pl. festa, fr. festus joyful, festal; of uncertain origin. Cf. Fair, n., Festal, Fte.
Definitions
  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.
    ✍ 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.
    Syn. -- Entertainment; regale; banquet; treat; carousal; festivity; festival. -- 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.
Feast intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. festen, cf. OF. fester to rest from work, F. fêter to celebrate a holiday. See Feast, n.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Feasted; present participle & verbal noun Feasting
Definitions
  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.
Feast transitive verb
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913