Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1600-1700
Language: Latin
Origin: jocus

joke

1 noun
     
joke1 S2 W3 [countable]
1 something that you say or do to make people laugh, especially a funny story or trickCOLLOCATIONS COLLOCATIONS
crack/make a joke (=say something funny) tell a joke (=tell a funny story) get a joke (=understand why something is funny) play a joke (on somebody) (=trick someone) as a joke/for a joke British English (=to make people laugh) private joke (=a joke only a few people understand) inside joke American English (=a joke that only a few people with knowledge about a particular subject or event will understand) practical joke (=a trick) dirty joke (=a joke about sex) sick joke (=an unpleasant joke)
Do you know any good jokes?
joke about
a joke about absent-minded professors
There's no need to make silly jokes, David.
He was always telling jokes and making people laugh.
She never gets my jokes.
She wondered if the others were playing a joke on her.
I couldn't go out with someone for a joke, could you?
They seemed to be sharing a private joke.
What the workers think is a practical joke, management might regard as sabotage.
! Do not say 'say a joke'. Say tell a joke or tell someone a joke.
2

be a joke

informal to be completely useless, stupid, or unreasonable:
The whole meeting was a joke.
3

go/get/be beyond a joke

a situation that has got beyond a joke has become serious and worrying:
This rain's getting beyond a joke - let's go inside.
4

something is no joke

used to emphasize that a situation is serious or that someone really means what they say:
The risk he's taking is no joke.
It's no joke bringing up a child on your own.
5

somebody can take a joke

used to say that someone is able to laugh at jokes about themselves:
Your problem is you just can't take a joke.
6

make a joke (out) of something

to treat something serious as if it was intended to be funny:
He could not bring himself to apologise. Instead, he tried to make a joke of it.
7

somebody's idea of a joke

spoken a situation that someone else thinks is funny but you do not:
Look, if this is your idea of a joke, I don't find it at all funny.
8

the joke's on somebody

used to say that something has happened to make someone seem stupid, especially when they were trying to make other people seem stupid
➔ in-joke, practical joke

; ➔ standing joke

at standing1 (3)WORD FOCUS: funny WORD FOCUS: funny
similar words: amusing, humorous, witty, comical
very funny: hilarious, hysterical
something that someone says that is intended to make people laugh: joke, pun, play on wordsfunny

➔ See also funny
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary