party, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

party v.

1. (also party time, party up) to enjoy oneself.

1930		R. Whitfield Green Ice (1988) 13: She’s been partying for my coming out, and I turn her down cold.
1956		N. Algren Walk on the Wild Side 259: I lay in that lousy jail when I should have been partying in Chicago.
1965		C. Brown Manchild in the Promised Land (1969) 177: He liked to be [...] partying in the summertime.
1969		B. Jackson Thief’s Primer 133: They’ll make some money and they’ll party it up until all their money is gone.
1972		O. Hawkins Ghetto Sketches 41: We might be able to get out of here and party time a lil’ bit with the rest o’ those niggers.
1984		Totally True Diaries of an Eighties Roller Queen 🌐 10 Aug. Today Steve S. left for New Brunswick. Puffer was supposed to come down to party but didn’t. I babysat.
1994		M. Ribowsky Don’t Look Back 184: Josh was mainly in the country to party and was frequently seen stinking drunk or dragging on reefers.
1998		M. Newall ‘Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight’ in Indep. Weekend Rev. 26 Dec. 1: People who culde partie with a vengeance.
2006		C. Hiaasen Nature Girl 78: After a night of partying at the hard Rock Casino [etc.].
2014		M.E. Fitch ‘Tommy, Who Loved to Laugh’ in ThugLit Sept. [ebook] [P]artying late into the night, burning out our shooting stars.
2022		A. Kirzman Giuliani 23: While other classmates partied at off-campus bars, Giuliani begged off .
2022		J. Hannaham Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit 52: Why else they partying up on Thursday.

2. to have sex; often used in the prostitute’s opening line: Would you like to party?

1946		W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1948) 161: I only party to fill in. I sing with a band sometimes.
1956		N. Algren Walk on the Wild Side 131: Will you boys stay to party?
1968		N. Heard Howard Street 19: He’d failed to relieve one of them of the paycheck intended for partying.
1973		D. Goines Street Players 159: He wants to party with both of us, girl.
1989		T. Blacker Fixx 142: She really likes to party in company.
1998		C. Fleming High Concept 103: He was becoming a celebrity. And he liked to party.
2022		I. Fitzgerald Dirtbag, Massachusetts 176: Peter loves to party, loves kinky sex.

3. to partake in an orgy.

1972		Hall & Adelman Gentleman of Leisure 80: She asked me whether I’d ever partied before. Partying to me isn’t two girls and a guy – partying is going out dancing.
2000		blaine53 ‘The Concert’ 🌐 25 Dec. After we entered a quieter spot Lynn told me about being invited to party with the bands after the show.
2007		L. Redhead Cherry Pie [ebook] ‘She can come too. I swing that way. Yeah, the three of us can party, baby’.

4. (also have a party) to drink or take drugs.

1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970) 204: partying Enjoying heroin sociably; sharing it with others.
1978		R. Charles Brother Ray 45: In those days, I was partying if I drank a bottle of beer in a bar.
1979		H. Feldman et al. Angel Dust 164: The term ‘partying’ referred to the group activity of getting high.
1989		P. Munro Sl. U.
1992		G. Pelecanos Firing Offense 157: ‘What can I tell you? We were partying for two weeks straight. We had sold most of it, and were doing the rest of it’.
1993		G. Pelecanos Nick’s Trip 21: On the second night we felt rejuvenated enough to party and returned to it with a vengeance.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 136/1: have a party n. to become under the influence of intravenous drugs.
2008		T. Dorsey Atomic Lobster 42: Are you capable of not partying for eight seconds?
2010		Codella and Bennett Alphaville (2011) 203: Yeah, they partied a little, and yeah, they had bought a little dope.
2012		T. Robinson ‘Last Call’ in Dirty Words [ebook] ‘You party?’ [...] He opened his palm under the bar to show me a small glass vial.
2024		D. Rucker Life’s Too Short 132: We party. We go insane. We never, ever stop. Ever. I look back at what we inhaled, ingested, smoked, snorted, and swallowed, and I am honestly amazed that we made it out alive.

5. to offer sex to another person.

1963

J. Rechy City of Night 330: Stick around, babe [...] I’ll party you like you never been partied before.

In phrases

party down (v.)

1. (orig. US black) to enjoy oneself very much.

1974		Eble Campus Sl. Apr. 1: party down – to go to a party.
1978		S. King Stand (1990) 784: She liked to party down.
2001		J. Stahl Plainclothes Naked (2002) 239: Why don’t you crazy kids go ahead? Might as well party down before I paint the ceiling with your brains.

2. attrib. use of sense 1, hedonistic.

1979

L. Bangs in Psychotic Reactions (1988) 277: Things like Creem articles and partydown exhibitionism represented a reaction against the hippie counterculture.

party foul (v.)

(US campus) to behave in a socially unacceptable manner at a party, esp. to vomit or spill alcohol; also as n. or excl. party foul! that was a blunder! how embarrassing!

1988		Eble Campus Sl. Mar.
1989		P. Munro Sl. U. 144: John party fouled big time when he spilled his drink all over the white carpet.
1998		R. Thomas Slave Day 156: Jen commits a serious party foul by turning down the jams.
2010		L. Steadman It’s a Breakup Not a Breakdown 127: Nothing says Party foul! quite like marinara sauce on the carpet or couch.

party hearty (v.)

(US teen) to have a good time at a party; also attrib.

1976		Jet 12 Aug. 61: Behind him are the ‘party hearty’ days and nights when he first made the Hollywood scene.
1979		N.Y. Amsterdam News 28 July 28/4: Everyone ‘partied hearty’ at New York, New York...
1982		Gettysburg (PA) Times 1 June 9/1: They [i.e. high-school students] listen to big portable radios called ‘boogie boxes’ and say they ‘partied hearty’ if they enjoyed themselves at a party.
1984		F. Zappa ‘Briefcase Boogie’ 🎵 Y’all wants t’party hearty with de min’yature rubber mammy wit de string out de back?
1991		M. Myers et al. Wayne’s World [film script] It is time to party! Party hearty! Party on Garth.
2002		(con. 1980s) i80s.com 🌐 party hearty/party hardy To party excessively.
2004		J. Ellroy ‘Jungletown Jihad’ in Destination: Morgue! (2004) 329: They just wanted to enjoy themselves [...] You know the term ‘party hearty’?
2022		J. Hannaham Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit 139: [M]otherfuckers is all party-hardy with the Bacardi in the backyardy.

party out (v.)

1. to exhaust oneself by excessive partying.

1961		Cosmopolitan 152 76: By the time he emerges from it [i.e. the debutante circuit], he is thoroughly partied out and ready to begin his career.
1977		New Yorker 53 31/1: Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have gone to one more party but Mark and Amy have declined to go, for they are utterly, irrevocably, and everlastingly partied out.
1984		Cincinnatti Mag. Mr. 53/3: Nobody goes to bars in LA anymore — the town is partied out.
1991		M. Myers et al. Wayne’s World [film script] Wayne: Phil, you’re partied out.
2020		D. Whish-Wilson Shore Leave 56: Cashed up and partied out.

2. (orig. US) to outlast one’s fellow-celebrants in one’s ability to consume drink and/or drugs).

1998

C. Fleming High Concept 118: He’d ‘partied out’ Nicholson and the other celebrities.

party time (v.)

see sense 1 above.

party up (v.)

see sense 1 above.

In exclamations

party on! [popularized by the film Wayne’s World (1992)]

(US teen) a general excl. of approval, either party-orientated, meaning ‘enjoy yourself!’ ‘have a good time!’ or, more broadly based, meaning ‘good job!’.

1989		P. Munro Sl. U.
1991		M. Myers et al. Wayne’s World [film script] Wayne: Until then, good night and party on.
1996		Eble Sl. and Sociability 101: The 1989 film Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure popularized party on as a farewell.
2004		P. Howard PS, I Scored the Bridesmaids 102: I’m like, ‘porty on, babe! Bali here we come.’.