From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfeastfeast1 /fiːst/ ●●○ noun [countable] 1 MEALa large meal where a lot of people celebrate a special occasion → banquet a wedding feast The king promised to hold a great feast for all his people.2 MEALa very good large meal all the ingredients for a spaghetti feastmidnight feast (=a meal eaten secretly at night by children)3 ENJOY/LIKE DOING somethingan occasion when there are a lot of enjoyable things to see or dofeast for Next week’s film festival should be a real feast for cinema-goers. The play is also a visual feast.4 RRTMCa day or period when there is a religious celebration the feast day of St. Francis → movable feastCOLLOCATIONSverbshave a feastWe decided to have a feast to celebrate the victory.give a feastHe gave a feast to which all the villagers were invited.hold a feast (=arrange for a feast to take place)The feast was held in the college dining hall.prepare a feastA catering company was hired to prepare the feast.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + feasta great feast (=a large and impressive feast)A great feast took place at the palace.a wedding/marriage feastThis dish is traditionally served at wedding feasts.
Examples from the Corpus
feast• Canonized 1729; feast day, May 16.• a Thanksgiving Day feast• The Christmas celebrations in Fiji are rounded off by a huge feast on Christmas Day.• The last day of Kwanzaa is marked by a lavish feast.• On Tuesdays the restaurant offers a prime rib feast.• Chefs Kuni and Yasu, both chatty artists, carve edible canvasses that are spectacular feasts for the eyes.• Come down Daniel to the lions' den, Come down Daniel and join in the feast.• Their clothes were aromatic with the feast they had been preparing.• He said the date was chosen to coincide with the feast of St Teresa of Lisieux, patron saint of the missions.• Here was the connubial complement to Miss Havisham's wedding feast but without the cobwebs.• There were over sixty guests at the wedding feast.• The welcome feast had made them as sick as volcanoes.hold ... feast• Very soon now they will be ready and then I mean to hold a great feast for all my people.midnight feast• Let's have a midnight feast tonight, she said: a secret party.• Big Ronnie was up and about and having a midnight feast.• When it is time to eat, pretend it is a midnight feast and have the food in one of the bedrooms.feast for• The wonderful, detailed illustrations are a feast for the eyes.feast day• Canonized 1228; feast day, October 4.• Canonized 1767; feast day, February 8.• Canonized 1934; feast day, March 15.• Canonized 372; feast day, April 12.• Hence, the blessing of bread on her feast day.• On feast days such as Passover, thousands of offerings were made.• It was generally held on or about the feast day of the patron saint to whom the church was dedicated.feastfeast2 ●○○ verb 1 → feast on/upon something2 → feast your eyes on somebody/something3 [intransitive]EATDRINK to eat and drink a lot to celebrate something→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
feast• Death was also a time for feasting.• At his trial some 15,000 revellers descended on Millau for music, feasting and anti-capitalist fun.• On the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims feasted for three days.• They welcome me warmly, and I feast on the nourishment for which I was born and which is mine par excellence.• Having feasted on this rich diet of generalisable material, however, a few hard questions about its reliability began to surface.• In the wooden fortress they were still feasting when the princess's army came in sight.• Our Master, joyful at the pleasing Sight, Invites us all to feast with him at Night.Origin feast1 (1100-1200) Old French feste “occasion of celebration”, from Latin festum 