Definition of "jesting"

jesting

/ˈd͡ʒɛstɪŋ/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural jestings
1. joking
  Quotations
  What an extraordinary mental delusion jesting is; that sort of laboured vivacity which fancies it is pointed when it is only personal; and more extraordinary still, it is always the resource of stupid people.
  1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), page 151
2. bantering; ridicule
3. mocking
adjective
comparative more jesting, superlative most jesting
1. facetious
2. humorous
  Quotations
  He will find that these are no jesting matters.
  1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 15, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans
3. playful; mocking
4. jeering
verb
1. present participle and gerund of jest