JOKE

(AMUSING) [noun] [C] - something, such as an amusing story or trick, that is said or done in order to make people laughDid I tell you the joke about the chicken crossing the road?She spent the evening cracking (= telling) jokes and telling witty stories.She tied his shoelaces together for a joke.I hope Rob doesn't tell any dirty jokes (= offensive jokes about sex) at the party, because my grandmother's going to be there.He tried to do a comedy routine for the end of term concert, but all his jokes fell flat (= no one laughed at them).He doesn't have much of a sense of humour and rarely gets (= understands) jokes.I tried explaining the joke to my German friends but I think it was lost on them (= they did not understand it).They decided to play a joke on their father by hiding his reading glasses.If you say that someone can't take a joke, they get annoyed when someone says something amusing about them or plays a trick on them.I thought Debbie would've laughed when she saw that photo of her on the noticeboard, but she just can't take a joke.If something is getting/has gone beyond a joke, it has become annoying or worrying.Every time Russell borrows my bicycle he forgets to return it, and it's getting beyond a joke.If you make a joke of something, you laugh at it although it is serious or important.He tried to make a joke of the fact that he hadn't been chosen for the college football team.(informal) If you say that something is no joke, you mean that it is not amusing or that it is very difficult.Carrying that heavy suitcase up all those steps was no joke.(informal) If you say that the joke is on a particular person, you mean that they have tried to make someone else look foolish but have made themselves look foolish instead.