(jests, jesting, jested)
1.
A jest is something that you say that is intended to be amusing. (FORMAL)
It was a jest rather than a reproach...
= joke
N-COUNT
•
If you say something in jest, you do not mean it seriously, but want to be amusing.
Don't say that, even in jest...
? seriously
PHRASE: PHR after v
2.
If you jest, you tell jokes or say amusing things. (FORMAL)
He enjoyed drinking and jesting with his cronies...
= joke
VERB: V