[joke] n [L jocus; perh. akin to OHG gehan to say, Skt yacati he asks] (1670) 1 a: something said or done to provoke laughter; esp: a brief oral narrative with a climactic humorous twist b (1): the humorous or ridiculous element in something (2): an instance of jesting: kidding "can't take a ~" c: practical joke d: laughingstock
2: something not to be taken seriously: a trifling matter "consider his skiing a ~ --Harold Callender"--often used in negative construction "it is no ~ to be lost in the desert"
[2]joke vb joked ; jok.ing vi (1670): to make jokes: jest ~ vt: to make the object of a joke: kid -- jok.ing.ly adv