GDict

surfeit

'sә:fit7 senses · 270 ms
Level C2GRE
local copy0 msLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0Wiktionary contributors
adj/ˈsɜː.fɪt//ˈsɝː.fɪt/
  1. 1

    Sated; surfeited; filled.archaic

    • 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.
noun/ˈsɜː.fɪt//ˈsɝː.fɪt/
  1. 1

    An excessive amount of something.countable

    • A surfeit of wheat is driving down the price.
  2. 2

    Overindulgence in either food or drink; overeating.uncountable

    • 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.
  3. 3

    A sickness or condition caused by overindulgence.countable

    • King Henry I is said to have died of a surfeit of lampreys.
  4. 4

    Disgust caused by excess; satiety.countableuncountable

    • Matter and argument have been supplied abundantly, and even to surfeit.
  5. 5

    A group of skunks.countable

verb/ˈsɜː.fɪt//ˈsɝː.fɪt/
  1. 1

    To fill (something) to excess.transitive

    • 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 […]?
  2. 2

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

    • She surfeited her children on sweets.
  3. 3

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

    • […] 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;
  4. 4

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

    • 1697, Aphra Behn, “On an ungrateful and undeserving Mistress, whom he cou’d not help Loving” in Poems upon Several Occasions, London: Francis Saunders, p. 50, While some glad Rival in her Arms did lye, Glutted with Love and surfeited with J
  5. 5

    To satisfy (someone's appetite) to excess.figurativelysometimestransitive

    • […] 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,
  6. 6

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

    • 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.
  7. 7

    To indulge (in something) to excess.figurativelyintransitivereflexive

    • 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.
  8. 8

    To become sick from overindulgence.figurativelyintransitivereflexive

    • […] 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:

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