jape (dʒeɪp
)
Definitions
noun
- a jest or joke
verb
- to joke or jest (about)
Alternative Forms
ˈjaper noun ˈjapery noun ˈjapingly adverbWord Origin
C14: perhaps from Old French japper to bark, yap, of imitative originUsage examples
`My little jape of landing on the police station lawn at Richards Bay with a cadaver didn't come off.
, A Daystar of Fear (1994)You know, the ones with the enormous house and those crazy sons who always have a jape up their sleeve.
Country Life (2005)Rather than just treating it as a normal footballing jape , he took umbrage, got dressed and went home!
Sun, News of the World (1999)Pandarus immediately begins to ` jape " about his own love-pangs (II.1096-9).
, Chaucer's `Troilus and Criseyde (1990)