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Banter

//ˈbæntə// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Sharp, good-humoured, playful, typically spontaneous conversation. uncountable

    "I was elected to the Executive Committee of the Vegetarian Society, and made it a point to attend every one of its meetings, but I always felt tongue-tied. Dr. Oldfield once said to me, 'You talk to me quite all right, but why is it that you never open your lips at a committee meeting? You are a drone.' I appreciated the banter. The bees are ever busy, the drone is a thorough idler."

  2. 2
    light teasing repartee wordnet
  3. 3
    Good-humoured bits of monologue and/or conversational prompts used in any of a wide range of occupations that must frequently interact with the public (for example, store clerks, salespersons, nurses). uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To engage in banter or playful conversation. intransitive
  2. 2
    be silly or tease one another wordnet
  3. 3
    To play or do something amusing. intransitive
  4. 4
    To tease (someone) mildly. transitive

    "Here comes the muſty trader, running over vvith remonſtrances. I muſt banter the cit."

  5. 5
    To joke about; to ridicule (a trait, habit, etc.). transitive

    "June 1804, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham If they banter your regularity, order, and love of study, banter in return their neglect of them."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    To delude or trick; to play a prank upon. transitive

    "[W]e diverted ourſelves vvith bantering ſeveral other poor Scholars, vvith hopes of being at leaſt his Lordſhip's Chaplains and putting on a Scarf; […]"

  2. 7
    To challenge to a match. Southern, US, Western, colloquial, transitive
  3. 8
    To haggle; cheapen the price. UK, dialectal

Etymology

Etymology 1

1670s as verb, 1680s as noun. The origin is unknown, possibly from London street slang; ostensibly as *bant + -er (frequentative suffix). Possibly an Anglo-Gaelicism from the Irish bean (“woman”), so that "banter" means "talk of women."

Etymology 2

1670s as verb, 1680s as noun. The origin is unknown, possibly from London street slang; ostensibly as *bant + -er (frequentative suffix). Possibly an Anglo-Gaelicism from the Irish bean (“woman”), so that "banter" means "talk of women."

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