Definition of "gamesome"

In their gamesome but still serious way, one whispers to the other—“Jack, he’s robbed a widow;” or, “Joe, do you mark him; he’s a bigamist;” ...

1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 9

She stepped upon Sicilian grass, / Demeter's daughter, fresh and fair, / A child of light, a radiant lass, / And gamesome as the morning air.

1862, Jean Ingelow, “Persephone”, in Poems‎

Yet it was some time before Teddy would admit him into anything like what one might call intimacy, and premature attempts at gamesome familiarity were checked by the gathering thunder of a lazy growl that unmistakably bade the youngster keep his place.

1915, Richard Le Gallienne, Vanishing Roads and Other Essays‎

Tom Stoppard secured his place on the theatrical map in 1967 with this wordy curiosity, a highly philosophical but stage-smart play crafted by a gamesome wordsmith enamored of the power of language.

2001 January 26, Erik Piepenburg, “Rosencratz and Guildenstern are Dead”, in Chicago Reader‎