[f. CAROUSE v. + -AL; but the formation may have been aided by the misunderstanding of carousel, and its association with CAROUSE v.] A fit of carousing, a drinking-feast or carouse; revelry in drinking.
1765. Sterne, Tr. Shandy, VII. xliii. (R.). The swains were preparing for a carousal.
1801. Southey, Thalaba, VI. xxviii. Sounds of carousal came, and song.
1814. Byron, Lara, I. vii. Join’d the carousals of the great and gay.
1872. Yeats, Techn. Hist. Comm., 124. The Germans were celebrated for their hospitality, their love of society, and their carousals.
¶ Erroneously put for CAROUSEL q.v.
