joke

Word family  noun joke joker jokiness jocularity adjective jokey jocular verb joke adverb jokingly jokily jocularly

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++joke1 /dʒəʊk $ dʒoʊk/ ●●● S2 W3 noun [countable]  1  JOKEsomething that you say or do to make people laugh, especially a funny story or trick 笑话；玩笑joke about a joke about absent-minded professors 关于糊涂教授的一个笑话 I couldn’t go out with someone for a joke, could you? 我可不能拿谈恋爱当儿戏，对不对？2  be a joke informalSTUPID/NOT SENSIBLE to be completely useless, stupid, or unreasonable 简直是在开玩笑；完全是一场闹剧 The whole meeting was a joke. 整个会议完全是一场闹剧。3  go/get/be beyond a joke SERIOUS SITUATIONa situation that has got beyond a joke has become serious and worrying 〔情况〕超出开玩笑的限度 This rain’s getting beyond a joke – let’s go inside. 这雨越下越大了，我们进去吧。4  something is no joke SERIOUS SITUATIONused to emphasize that a situation is serious or that someone really means what they say 某事并非开玩笑〔用来强调情况严重或某人说的话是认真的〕 The risk he’s taking is no joke. 他冒的这个险非同小可。 It’s no joke bringing up a child on your own. 独自抚养小孩可不是好玩的事情。5  somebody can take a joke FUNNYused to say that someone is able to laugh at jokes about themselves 某人开得起玩笑 Your problem is you just can’t take a joke. 你的问题就是开不起玩笑。6  make a joke (out) of something JOKEto treat something serious as if it was intended to be funny 拿〔严肃的事〕开玩笑 He could not bring himself to apologise. Instead, he tried to make a joke of it. 他没法开口道歉，就想拿这件事情开个玩笑蒙混过去。7  somebody’s idea of a joke spokenJOKE a situation that someone else thinks is funny but you do not 某人觉得好玩的事〔但你本人却并不这么认为〕 Look, if this is your idea of a joke, I don’t find it at all funny. 喂，虽然你认为这很好笑，我却一点都不觉得。8. the joke’s on somebody JOKEused to say that something has happened to make someone seem stupid, especially when they were trying to make other people seem stupid 开玩笑反而开到自己身上了；作弄别人反而作弄到自己身上 → in-joke, practical joke, → standing joke at standing1(3) COLLOCATIONSverbstell a joke (=repeat a funny story) 讲笑话He was always telling jokes and making people laugh. 他总是讲笑话逗人乐。make a joke (also crack a joke) (=say something intended to be funny) 逗笑，开玩笑He was cracking jokes and seemed relaxed and happy. 他在开玩笑，看上去轻松愉快。get a joke (=understand a joke and find it funny) 听懂笑话She never gets my jokes. 她从来都不懂我的笑话。laugh at somebody’s jokes 听了某人的笑话而大笑nA few people laughed at his jokes, but some didn’t find them funny.play a joke on somebody (=trick someone to make people laugh) 开某人的玩笑nJohn’s always playing jokes on his brothers.adjectivesa good/funny joke 好笑的笑话I heard a really good joke the other day. 有一天我听到一个很有趣的笑话。a bad/terrible joke (=not funny) 不好笑的笑话Dad was known for his bad jokes. 大家都知道爸爸的笑话很无趣。a cruel/sick joke (=very unkind) 残忍的/令人反感的笑话nWhen I heard he had cancer, at first I thought it was some kind of sick joke.an old joke 老掉牙的笑话nIt reminded me of the old joke about the chicken crossing the road.a dirty joke (=about sex) 下流的笑话nA bunch of boys were telling dirty jokes.a practical joke (=that involves tricking someone) 恶作剧nWhat the workers think is a practical joke, management might regard as sabotage.an inside/a private joke (=that only a few people who are involved in something will understand) 小圈子里的笑话nAfter I’d worked there a while, I started to understand some of the inside jokes.na running joke (=in which people always laugh when the same situation happens, or when someone says something)It’s a running joke in our house that my husband can never find his keys.phrasesa joke falls flat (=people don’t find a joke funny) 笑话没有人笑His practical jokes usually fell flat. 他那些恶作剧通常都没有人笑。be the butt of a joke (=be the person a joke is made about, so that people laugh at you) 成为笑柄nSomehow he’d become the butt of all his classmates’ jokes.COMMON ERRORS ► Don’t say ‘say a joke’. Say tell a joke. 不要说 ‘say a joke’. 而要说 tell a joke.n THESAURUSjoke a funny story that you tell people to make them laughWe all sat around telling jokes.Have you heard the joke about the man who found a frog in his soup?funny story a short story that someone tells to make people laughHe was one of those guys who are good at telling funny stories at dinner parties.gag a short joke, especially one told by a professional entertainerHe’s a great comedian, with plenty of good gags.one-liner a very short joke or funny remarkThere are some memorable one-liners in the film.wisecrack a funny remark or reply, especially one that is said in a very quick and clever wayIt’s a comic masterpiece, packed with classic wisecracks.pun (also play on words) a joke made by mixing up two different meanings of the same word, or two words with the same sounda pun on the words ‘bear’ and ‘bare’The title of the book is a witty play on words. Shakespeare used a lot of puns for comic effect.quip written something funny and clever that someone saysHe made some friendly quip about hair loss, and everyone laughed.

Examples from the Corpus

joke• It is much too risky at the start of an interaction to make a joke about the other person.• We didn't mean to frighten you. It was only a joke.• I can take a joke as well as anyone, but this isn't funny, it's embarrassing.• It's a good idea to start a speech by telling a joke.• And that was a joke, because I was half-dead with worry myself.• What a joke that meeting was.• Leno opened the show with a joke about the election.• But he is rescued, along with others, and the whole terrifying ordeal, he discovers, becomes a big joke.• In some situations, a dirty joke can be considered sexual harassment.• They may even have a few jokes of their own.• Do you want to hear a good joke?• Have you heard any good jokes lately?• Inside the parcel there was an empty bottle. "Is this some kind of joke?'' he asked.• The two girls were whispering in the corner and giggling over some private joke.• You're given comedy and miss all the jokes.• It wasn't that I didn't get the joke - I just didn't think it was funny.• Everyone laughed except Mr Broadbent, who didn't see the joke.• The joke goes on to say that every night is Wednesday!• Wilson spoke for about 15 minutes, peppering his mainly serious message with jokes.for a joke• Mulcahey searched his brain for a joke, but there was only a translucent blankness.• One day some street cowboys threw an uncharged hand grenade at him for a joke.• The Reverend George Whitefield was not a man for jokes.• Not entirely sober one evening in 1832, Turner entered a Preston temperance meeting for a joke but came out converted.• She was in no mood for jokes.• He was not in the mood for jokes.• I talk to him like that more for joke than anything else.joke2 ●●● S3 verb [intransitive]  1  SERIOUS/NOT JOKINGto say things that are intended to be funny and that you do not really mean 说笑话；开玩笑joke about I never joke about money. 我从不拿钱开玩笑。joke with As we left the hospital, he joked with the staff. 我们离开医院时，他和医务人员开着玩笑。joke that His father joked that his son was trying to put him out of business. 他父亲开玩笑说他儿子想要他破产。 Calm down, Jo, I was only joking. 乔，别生气，我不过是开玩笑。2  you’re joking/you must be joking  (also you’ve got to be joking) spokenNO used to tell someone that what they are suggesting is so strange or silly that you cannot believe that they are serious 你(一定)是在开玩笑吧〔用来表示某人的话很奇怪或愚蠢，你无法相信他们是认真的〕 ‘Tell him.’ ‘You must be joking – he’d never believe me.’ “告诉他。” “你一定是在开玩笑吧，他绝不会相信我的。3. joking apart/aside British EnglishSERIOUS/NOT JOKING used before you say something serious after you have been joking 言归正传，说正经的〔用来表示停止开玩笑，开始说严肃的事〕 —jokingly adverb→ See Verb table

Examples from the Corpus

joke• A group of teenagers were standing at the corner, laughing and joking.• I must tell Philippa that I was joking.• Though Cosby joked about it, Ennis' school performance in those years was anything but funny offstage.• When he was a kid he was embarrassed about his height, but now he can joke about it.• Some one joked about opening a tranquilizer concession.• Now he was joking about the rumours of his marriage.• They're a good class to teach. You can joke and have a laugh with them.• Well, okay, he joked, his voice smooth as glass.• Armed with his Bumper Fun Book, the minister of Dunlop joked his way around the world at various functions.• I was unresponsive and kept joking with him about it - but I made it clear I wasn't interested.only joking• At the time, she was only joking.• Of course, Fagan was only joking about not having Chaffee back next year.• Bill Shankly was only joking when he said football was more important than life and death.Origin joke1 (1600-1700) Latin jocus

joke1 noun →COLLOCATIONS1 →n THESAURUS1joke2 verbLDOCE OnlineChinese  

or especially laugh, people do that Corpus you make say something to

joke

I

joke¹ S2 W3 /dʒəʊk $ dʒoʊk/ noun [countable]1. something that you say or do to make people laugh, especially a funny story or trick
    joke about
    a joke about absent-minded professors
    I couldn’t go out with someone for a joke, could you?
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. sb’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)
     

COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs
   ▪ tell a joke (=repeat a funny story) He was always telling jokes and making people laugh.
   ▪ make a joke (also crack a joke) (=say something intended to be funny) He was cracking jokes and seemed relaxed and happy.
   ▪ get a joke (=understand a joke and find it funny) She never gets my jokes.
   ▪ laugh at sb’s jokes A few people laughed at his jokes, but some didn’t find them funny.
   ▪ play a joke on somebody (=trick someone to make people laugh) John’s always playing jokes on his brothers.
■ adjectives
   ▪ a good/funny joke I heard a really good joke the other day.
   ▪ a bad/terrible joke (=not funny) Dad was known for his bad jokes.
   ▪ a cruel/sick joke (=very unkind) When I heard he had cancer, at first I thought it was some kind of sick joke.
   ▪ an old joke It reminded me of the old joke about the chicken crossing the road.
   ▪ a dirty joke (=about sex) A bunch of boys were telling dirty jokes.
   ▪ a practical joke (=that involves tricking someone) What the workers think is a practical joke, management might regard as sabotage.
   ▪ an inside/a private joke (=that only a few people who are involved in something will understand) After I’d worked there a while, I started to understand some of the inside jokes.
   ▪ a running joke (=in which people always laugh when the same situation happens, or when someone says something) It’s a running joke in our house that my husband can never find his keys.
■ phrases
   ▪ a joke falls flat (=people don’t find a joke funny) His practical jokes usually fell flat.
   ▪ be the butt of a joke (=be the person a joke is made about, so that people laugh at you) Somehow he’d become the butt of all his classmates’ jokes.
■ COMMON ERRORS
    ► Do not say 'say a joke'. Say tell a joke.
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ joke a funny story that you tell people to make them laugh: We all sat around telling jokes. | Have you heard the joke about the man who found a frog in his soup?
   ▪ funny story a short story that someone tells to make people laugh: He was one of those guys who are good at telling funny stories at dinner parties.
   ▪ gag a short joke, especially one told by a professional entertainer: He’s a great comedian, with plenty of good gags.
   ▪ one-liner a very short joke or funny remark: There are some memorable one-liners in the film.
   ▪ wisecrack a funny remark or reply, especially one that is said in a very quick and clever way: It’s a comic masterpiece, packed with classic wisecracks.
   ▪ pun (also play on words) a joke made by mixing up two different meanings of the same word, or two words with the same sound: a pun on the words ‘bear’ and ‘bare’ | The title of the book is a witty play on words. | Shakespeare used a lot of puns for comic effect.
   ▪ quip written something funny and clever that someone says: He made some friendly quip about hair loss, and everyone laughed.

II

joke² S3 verb [intransitive]1. to say things that are intended to be funny and that you do not really mean
    joke about
    I never joke about money.
    joke with
    As we left the hospital, he joked with the staff.
    joke that
    His father joked that his son was trying to put him out of business.
    Calm down, Jo, I was only joking.
2. you’re joking/you must be joking (also you’ve got to be joking) spoken used to tell someone that what they are suggesting is so strange or silly that you cannot believe that they are serious:
    ‘Tell him.’ ‘You must be joking – he’d never believe me.’
3. joking apart/aside British English used before you say something serious after you have been joking
—jokingly adverb