Webster's English Dictionary

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jest

Cross references:
  1. fun                   
 
1. jest \'jest\ n [ME geste, fr. OF, fr. L gesta deeds, fr. neut. pl. of 
   gestus], pp. of gerere to bear, wage - more at CAST 1a: an act intended to 
   provoke laughter : PRANK  1b: a comic incident  2a: JEER  2b: a witty 
   remark  3a: a frivolous mood or manner {spoken in ~}  3b: gaiety and 
   merriment  4: LAUGHINGSTOCK  mean something said for the purpose of evoking 
   laughter. JEST is chiefly literary and applies to any utterance not 
   seriously intended whether sarcastic, ironic, witty, or merely playful; 
   JOKE may apply to an act as well as an utterance and suggests no intent to 
   hurt feelings; QUIP implies lightness and neatness of phrase more 
   definitely than JEST; WITTICISM and WISECRACK both stress cleverness of 
   phrasing and both may suggest flippancy or unfeelingness SYN syn JEST, 
   JOKE, QUIP, WITTICISM, WISECRACK 
2. jest vi 1: to utter taunts : GIBE  2: to speak or act without 
   seriousness  3: to make a witty remark : JOKE  : to make fun of