| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| joke |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  j k |
| NOUN: | 1. Something said or done to evoke laughter or amusement, especially an amusing story with a punch line. 2. A mischievous trick; a prank. 3. An amusing or ludicrous incident or situation. 4. Informal a. Something not to be taken seriously; a triviality: The accident was no joke. b. An object of amusement or laughter; a laughingstock: His loud tie was the joke of the office. | | VERB: | Inflected forms: joked, jok·ing, jokes
| | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To tell or play jokes; jest. 2. To speak in fun; be facetious. | | TRANSITIVE VERB: | To make fun of; tease. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Latin iocus. See yek- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | jok ing·ly —ADVERB
| | SYNONYMS: | joke, jest, witticism, quip, sally, crack, wisecrack, gag These nouns refer to something that is said or done in order to evoke laughter or amusement. Joke especially denotes an amusing story with a punch line at the end: told jokes at the party. Jest suggests frolicsome humor: amusing jests that defused the tense situation. A witticism is a witty, usually cleverly phrased remark: a speech full of witticisms. A quip is a clever, pointed, often sarcastic remark: responded to the tough questions with quips. Sally denotes a sudden quick witticism: ended the debate with a brilliant sally. Crack and wisecrack refer less formally to flippant or sarcastic retorts: made a crack about my driving ability; punished for making wisecracks in class. Gag is principally applicable to a broadly comic remark or to comic by-play in a theatrical routine: one of the most memorable gags in the history of vaudeville.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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