half seas over

Adjective

half seas over (not comparable)

1. (dated, slang) Slightly drunk, or, possibly in meiosis, very drunk.
   • 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."1830, Richard Warner, “chapter XIII”, in Literary Recollections, volume II, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 6, footnote
   • 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....1823, anonymous author, The Spirit of the Public Journals for the Year MDCCCXXIII

   Synonyms:

   drunk