DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
Jest n.
1. A deed; an action; a gest. [Obs.]
The jests or actions of princes. --Sir T. Elyot.
2. A mask; a pageant; an interlude. [Obs.]
He promised us, in honor of our guest,
To grace our banquet with some pompous jest. --Kyd.
3. Something done or said in order to amuse; a joke; a witticism; a jocose or sportive remark or phrase. See Synonyms under Jest, v. i.
I must be sad . . . smile at no man's jests. --Shak.
The Right Honorable gentleman is indebted to his memory for his jests, and to his imagination for his facts. --Sheridan.
4. The object of laughter or sport; a laughingstock.
Then let me be your jest; I deserve it. --Shak.
In jest, for mere sport or diversion; not in truth and reality; not in earnest.
And given in earnest what I begged in jest. --Shak.
-- Jest book, a book containing a collection of jests, jokes, and amusing anecdotes; a Joe Miller.