subs. (literary).—Usually in the phrase a BARMECIDE FEAST = short commons; lenten entertainment. [From the Arabian Nights story of a prince of that name who put a series of empty dishes before a beggar pretending that they formed a sumptuous repast, the beggar facetiously assenting.] Also as adj.

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  1713.  The Guardian, No. 162, 16 Sept. The BARMECIDE was sitting at his table that seemed ready covered for an entertainment.

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  1842.  DICKENS, American Notes (1850), 81. It is a BARMECIDE FEAST; a pleasant field for the imagination to rove in.

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  c. 1845.  HOOD, Turtles, xiv.

        Having thro’ one delighted sense, at least,
Enjoy’d a sort of BARMECIDAL FEAST.

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  1854.  MOZLEY, Blanco White, Ess. (1878) II. 115. To reason simply on the superficies is a BARMECIDAL proceeding.

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  1854.  THACKERAY, The Newcomes, II. 103. My dear BARMECIDE friend.

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  1863.  Reader, II. 506. Sharing the boundless hospitality of a BARMECIDE.

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