half seas over

English

Pronunciation

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Adjective

half seas over (not comparable)

1. (slang, dated) Slightly drunk, or, possibly in meiosis, very drunk.
   • 1830, Richard Warner, “chapter XIII”, in Literary Recollections, volume II, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 6, footnote:

     Many of my readers will recollect the memorable night, on which William Pitt and his ingenious friend and jovial compotator, Harry Dundas, went into the House of Commons, in a condition usually described by the phrase "of being half seas over."

   • 1823, anonymous author, The Spirit of the Public Journals for the Year MDCCCXXIII:

     They strutted into the box department at the English Opera House, on the preceding night at half price, and half-seas-over — whether with cape, blackstrap, or blue ruin, did not appear. Two of them were particularly half-seas-over, viz. — Mr. Bob Dodd and Mr. Will. Wood; the other, Mr. Fred. Hughes, was but so so.

Usage notes

The phrase is used only predicatively.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:drunk

References

• “half seas over”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.