▪ an object of derision:"lowly virtue is the jest of fools"
verb
1. speak or act in a joking manner:"you jest, surely?"Similarjokecrackquipgagsallypuntell jokescrack jokesbanterinformal:wisecrackfoolfool aroundplay a prankplay a practical joketeasehoaxinformal:kidwind uphave onpull someone's legmake a monkey out ofpull someone's chainfunshuck
Word Originlate Middle English: from earlier gest, from Old French geste, from Latin gesta ‘actions, exploits’, from gerere ‘do’. The original sense was ‘heroic deed’, hence ‘a narrative of such deeds’; later the term denoted an idle tale, hence a joke.
