joke
nounverbcommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈd͡ʒəʊ̯k//
- United Kingdom//ˈd͡ʒɵ̞ʊ̯k//
- Canada//ˈd͡ʒoʊ̯k//
- Canada//ˈd͡ʒɔʊ̯k//
- Australia//ˈd͡ʒəʉ̯k//
An amusing story.
noun
- 1
An amusing story.
Or witty joke our airy senses moves / To pleasant laughter.
- 2
Something said or done for amusement, not in seriousness.
It was a joke!
[object Object]
- 3
figurativeA laughably worthless thing or person; a sham.
Your effort at cleaning your room is a joke.
The president was a joke.
The other wheel on the tender of the L.N.W.R. engines operated the tender brake, and this was always rather a joke. Sometimes it operated with good results and on other occasions it did not.
- 4
figurativeSomething that is far easier or far less challenging than expected.
The final exam was a joke.
Etymology
From Latin iocus (“joke, jest, pastime”), from Proto-Italic *jokos (“word, (playful?) saying”), from Proto-Indo-European *yokos (“word, utterance”), from ultimate root Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak, utter”) (of which distant cognates include Proto-Celtic *yextis (“language”) (Breton yezh (“language”) and Welsh iaith (“language”)) and German Beichte (“confession”)). Cognate with French jeu, Italian gioco, Portuguese jogo, Spanish juego, Romanian joc, English Yule, Danish Jule, Norwegian Bokmål Jul, Swedish Jul, and Norwegian Nynorsk jol.
verb
- 1
To do or say something for amusement rather than seriously.
I didn’t mean what I said — I was only joking.
- 2
To dupe in a friendly manner for amusement; to mess with, play with.
Relax, man, I'm just joking with you.
- 3
datedTo make merry with; to make jokes upon; to rally.
to joke a comrade
He made more than one visit to Oxbridge, where the young fellows were amused by entertaining the old gentleman, and gave parties and breakfasts and fêtes, partly to joke him and partly to do him honour.
Forms
- plural
- jokes
- past tense
- joked
- past participle
- joked
- present participle
- joking
- third person singular
- jokes