Webster's English Dictionary

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fool

1. fool \'fu:l\ n [ME, fr. OF fol, LL follis, fr. L, bellows, bag; akin to 
   L flare] to blow - more at BLOW 1: a person lacking in judgment or prudence 
    2a: a retainer formerly kept in great households t0 provide casual 
   entertai nment and commonly dressed in motley with cap, bells, and bauble 
   2b: one who is victimized or made to appear foolish : DUPE  3a: a 
   harmlessly deranged person or one lacking in common powers of underst 
   anding : IDIOT 3b: one with a marked propensity or talent for a certain 
   activity {a lett er-writing ~} 4a: mashed fruit and cream  4b: a dessert 
   made of pulped fruit covered with a custard and cream M, NATURAL mean one 
   who is mentally defective. FOOL is the general term and may often suggest 
   derangement rather than feebleness of mind, or merely some degree of lack 
   of good sense or judgment; IDIOT, IMBECILE, and MORON designate technically 
   three grades of mental insufficiency; an idiot is incapable of coherent 
   speech and of avoiding ordinary hazards and so requires constant care; an 
   IMBECILE is incapable of earning a living but can be educated to attend to 
   his simpler wants and avoid ordinary dangers; a MORON can learn a simple 
   trade but requires constant supervision in work and play; SIMPLETON is 
   often a term of indulgent contemptand implies silliness or lack of 
   sophistication or of normal shrewdness;NATURAL, now rare, applies to any 
   congenitally feeble-minded person SYN syn FOOL, IDIOT, IMBECILE, MORON, 
   SIMPLETON
2. fool vi 1a: to spend time idly or aimlessly  1b: to meddle or tamper 
   thoughtlessly or ignorantly {don't ~ with  that gun} 2a: to play or 
   improvise a comic role  2b: to speak in jest : JOKE {I was only ~ing}  3: 
   to contend or fight without serious intent or with less than full stren gth 
   : TOY 1: to make a fool of : DECEIVE  obs  2: INFATUATE  3: to spend on 
   trifles or without advantage : FRITTER - used wit h away
3. fool aj : FOOLISH, SILLY {barking his ~ head off}