surfeit

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Sated

   Sated; surfeited; filled.

   • If it proceed from the third occaſion, which is ſurfeit of Meats and Drinks, either natural or unnatural, then the ſigns are theſe ; […]
   • “We are surfeit with sons of vassals of the king,” the merchant said.
2. 2

   An excessive amount of something.

   • A surfeit of wheat is driving down the price.
   • With what could be a surfeit of candour, [Mike] Skinner has described DJing as more creative than playing his own songs, because, to paraphrase, of the "stress" and "creativity" of not knowing what he'll be doing in three minutes' time.
3. 3

   Overindulgence in either food or drink

   Overindulgence in either food or drink; overeating.

   • I feel too much thy blessing: make it [this excess]less, For fear I surfeit! Now comes the sick hour that his surfeit made.
   • He insisted on stopping at a charmingly romantic cabman's shelter somewhere, at five o'clock this morning, and we had a surfeit of hot cocoa and currant buns.
4. ›+ 11 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A sickness or condition caused by overindulgence.

      • King Henry I is said to have died of a surfeit of lampreys.
      • the Leaves they do eat to prevent surfeit and other diseases that are incident to those that heat their blood by travels
   2. 5

      Disgust caused by excess

      Disgust caused by excess; satiety.

      • Matter and argument have been supplied abundantly, and even to surfeit.
   3. 6

      A group of skunks.

   4. 7

      To fill (something) to excess.

      • You are three men of sin, whom Destiny, That hath to instrument this lower world And what is in’t,—the never-surfeited sea Hath caused to belch up you;
      • If this surfeited sponge of speculation, this crammed commercial cormorant, wanted more than that for his daughter, why could he not say so without asking disgusting questions such as these […]?
   5. 8

      To feed (someone) to excess (on, upon or with something).

      • She surfeited her children on sweets.
      • […] ev’n the wholsomest Meats may be surfeited on, and there is nothing more unhealthy, than to feed very well, and do but very little Exercise.
      • To the door of this, the twelfth house whose bell he had rung, came a housekeeper who made him think of an unwholesome, surfeited worm that had eaten its nut to a hollow shell and now sought to fill the vacancy with edible lodgers.
   6. 9

      To make (someone) sick as a result of overconsumption.

      • […] that proportion of meat surfetteth, and surchargeth the stomacks of some, which is not enough to satisfie the hunger of others,
      • […] I imagine him poisoned by his wines, or surfeited by a favourite dish;
   7. 10

      To supply (someone) with something to excess

      To supply (someone) with something to excess; to disgust (someone) through overabundance.

      • […] he shan’t shut me up in this dismal castle, and nauseate me with his surfeiting fondness:
      • […] I suppose his majesty thought we had enough of it on the field, and did not wish to surfeit us with glory.
   8. 11

      To satisfy (someone's appetite) to excess.

      • […] his appetite for vulgar praise had not yet been surfeited;
      • Every one has had the experience of being served with more food than can be eaten with relish and without waste. The effect is to surfeit the appetite and to limit the variety which a patron may have,
   9. 12

      To overeat or feed to excess (on or upon something).

      • And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
      • Millions of people were starving, while the oligarchs and their supporters were surfeiting on the surplus.
      • Those who do not surfeit themselves do not weary quickly of any particular article of diet.
   10. 13

       To indulge (in something) to excess.

       • After surfeiting itself with the Feast here provided for it, the Eye, by using a little Exercise in travelling about the Country, grows hungry again, and returns to the Entertainment with fresh Appetite.
       • […] a more fantastic idiot had never surfeited herself on sweet lies, and swallowed poison as if it were nectar.
       • […] the intemperate zeal with which middle-aged men are apt to surfeit themselves upon a seductive folly which they have tasted for the first time.
   11. 14

       To become sick from overindulgence.

       • […] they are as sick that surfeit with too much as they that starve with nothing.
       • I must confesse at my first reading of them [the miracles of Hildegard of Bingen], my belief digested some, but surfeted on the rest:
       • He that ſerves many Miſtreſſes, ſurfeits on his diet, and grovvs dead to the vvhole ſex: 'tis the folly in the vvorld next long ears and braying.

The neighborhood

• neighborsurfeiting
• neighborsurfeitly
• neighborsurfeitness
• neighborsurfeitous