To binge means to do something excessively in a short period of time, often more than is healthy or wise. When someone binges on candy, they eat way too much at once instead of enjoying a reasonable amount. When someone binges on video games, they might play for hours and hours without taking breaks, ignoring homework, sleep, or other responsibilities.

The word often describes consuming entertainment: you might binge-watch an entire season of a show in one weekend, watching episode after episode. While occasionally staying up late to finish an exciting book series isn't necessarily harmful, binging becomes a problem when it crowds out important activities like exercise, schoolwork, or time with friends and family.

Originally, binge described excessive eating or drinking, but now it applies to almost any activity done to extreme excess. A shopping binge means buying far more than you need or can afford. A social media binge means scrolling for hours without realizing how much time has passed.

The key feature of binging is the loss of normal limits: you keep going past the point where you should stop. After a binge, people often feel regret or discomfort, realizing they overdid it.

As a noun, a binge is a period of doing something too much, like “a movie binge” or “a binge on sweets.”