a. [See -FUL.] Full of jesting.

1

1799.  C. B. Brown, Arthur Mervyn, iv. 34. Was his imposture a jestful or a wicked one? Ibid. (1811), Wieland, I. viii. 179. We was as whimsical and jestful as ever, but he was not happy.

2

1814.  T. Brown, Paradise of Coquettes, V. 119–20.

                        Yes! when crowds are
O dull or jestful! seest thou not, when light
Those tender glances on her booby knight.

3

1831.  Fraser’s Mag., II. 695/2. His courteous, though quaint and jestful manners.

4

1850.  Caledonian Mercury, 28 Feb., 3/2. The reported jestful saying of a landing surveyor about a man lying on his back and calling for a coach has been made too much of.

5

1892.  Jane Ambrach, in Welsh Rev., I. 756. Though my tones were jestful, I felt in reality little mirth.

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