benjamin's mess
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The largest share. The allusion is to the banquet given by Joseph, viceroy of Egypt, to his brethren. " Ben- jamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs" (Gen. xliii, 34).
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “benjamin's mess” mean?
The largest share. The allusion is to the banquet given by Joseph, viceroy of Egypt, to his brethren. " Ben- jamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs" (Gen. xliii, 34).
Is “benjamin's mess” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.