ENGLISH
REFERENCE

binge

n. · v.
US //ˈbɪndʒ// UK //bˈɪndʒ// binge
  1. 1 excessive consumption (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    a short period where you eat, drink, or spend much more than usual.

    a period of excessive or uncontrolled indulgence in food, alcohol, or other substances.

    Example

    After the long exam week, he went on a shopping binge and bought three new pairs of shoes.

    Example

    The study examined the psychological triggers that lead individuals to engage in a weekend binge of high-calorie foods after a period of strict dieting.
  2. 2 media consumption (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    watching many episodes of a TV show or movies in a very short time.

    the practice of watching multiple episodes of a television programme or a series of films in rapid succession.

    Example

    I finished the entire season in one weekend during a Netflix binge.

    Example

    Streaming platforms have fundamentally altered viewer habits, encouraging the binge as the primary mode of consuming narrative television.
  3. 3 to do something excessively (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    to do something, like eating or watching TV, in an extreme way for a short time.

    to indulge in an activity to excess; frequently used with the preposition 'on' when specifying the object of consumption.

    Example

    It is easy to binge on snacks while you are studying for a test.

    Example

    During the holidays, many people tend to binge on rich desserts and festive drinks before making New Year's resolutions to eat more healthily.

    Usage

    Often used as 'binge on something'.
Origin

From Leicestershire and Northamptonshire dialect, binge (“to drink deeply", also "to soak, steep, drench", specifically "to swell a leaky wooden vessel by filling it with or plunging it into water”), of unknown origin. Compare dialectal English beene and beam (“to cure leakage in a tub or barrel by soaking, thereby causing the wood to swell”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last updated June 20, 2026