Feast

n. [O. Fr. feast, feste, N. Fr. fête, Pr., O. Sp., Pg., & It. festa, N. Sp. fiesta, Ger. fest, from Lat. festum, pl. festa.]

1Sense 1. A festival; a holiday; a solemn, or more commonly joyous, anniversary.

We'll hold a feast in great solemnity. Shak.

2Sense 2. A festive or joyous meal; a grand, ceremonious, or sumptuous entertainment, of which many guests partake; a rich repast; a banquet.

The feast smells well; but I Appear not like a guest. Shak.

3Sense 3. That which is partaken of with delight; something delicious or highly agreeable; entertainment.

Ecclesiastical feasts are called immovable when they always occur on the same day of the year; otherwise they are called movable.

Synonyms—Entertainment; regale; banquet; treat; carousal; festivity; festival.—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. A feast which was designed to be a festival, may be changed into a banquet. Carousal is unrestrained indulgence in frolic and drink.

The feast of reason and the flow of soul. Pope.

In his commendations I am fed; It is a banquet to me. Shak.

The morning trumpets festival proclaimed Through each high street. Milton.

Ascanius these carousals taught, And, building Alba, to the Latins brought. Dryden.

[imp. & p. p. FEASTED; p. pr. & vb. n. FEASTING.] 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.

v. t. 1. To entertain with sumptuous provisions; to treat at the table magnificently; as, he was feasted by the king. Hayward. 2. To delight; to pamper; to gratify luxuriously; as, to feast the soul. Feast your ears with the music a while. Shak.