jest

noun

1. (archaic)An act performed for amusement; a joke.

   “I made that comment in jest; it wasn't serious.”

   “Alas poore Yorick, I knew him Horatio, a fellow of infinite Ieſt; […]”

2. (archaic)Someone or something that is ridiculed; the target of a joke.

   “Your majesty, stop him before he makes you the jest of the court.”

   “Why then make ſport at me, then let me be your ieſt, / I deſerue it[…]”

3. (obsolete)A deed; an action; a gest.

   “the jests or actions of princes”

4. (obsolete)A mask; a pageant; an interlude.

   “He promised us, in honour of our guest, / To grace our banquet with some pompous jest.”

verb

1. To tell a joke; to talk in a playful manner; to make fun of something or someone.

   “Surely you jest!”

adv

1. (Shropshire, Southern-US, alt-of, not-comparable, pronunciation-spelling)Pronunciation spelling of just.

   “So I jest called out to know what was up, and found it was Miss Vanholte's cowboys, who had been forced into the store by them rascally ruffins.”

   “"Jest like the Injian puzzle-boxes, ain't they?" said Dan, as the one boat dropped into the other.”