ban·ter /ˈbæntɚ/
戲謔,嘲弄(vt.)(vi.)戲弄,開玩笑
Ban·ter, n. The act of bantering; joking or jesting; humorous or good-humored raillery; pleasantry.
Part banter, part affection. --Tennyson.
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Ban·ter v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bantered p. pr. & vb. n. Bantering.]
1. To address playful good-natured ridicule to, -- the person addressed, or something pertaining to him, being the subject of the jesting; to rally; as, he bantered me about my credulity.
Hag-ridden by my own fancy all night, and then bantered on my haggard looks the next day. --W. Irving.
2. To jest about; to ridicule in speaking of, as some trait, habit, characteristic, and the like. [Archaic]
If they banter your regularity, order, and love of study, banter in return their neglect of them. --Chatham.
3. To delude or trick, -- esp. by way of jest. [Obs.]
We diverted ourselves with bantering several poor scholars with hopes of being at least his lordship's chaplain. --De Foe.
4. To challenge or defy to a match. [Colloq. Southern and Western U. S.]
banter
n : light teasing repartee [syn: raillery, give-and-take, backchat]
v : be silly or tease one another; "After we relaxed, we just
kidded around" [syn: kid, chaff, jolly, josh]