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> |