[f. JEST v. + -ING1.] The action of the vb. JEST; joking, pleasantry; trifling; ridicule.
1526. Tindale, Eph. v. 4. Nether folishe talkyng, nether gestinge.
1548. Udall, Erasm. Par. Luke xvi. 25. For thy iestynges and songes [thou hast] continuall wepyng.
1606. Shaks., Tr. & Cr., I. ii. 224. Looke you what hacks are on his Helmet…. There’s no iesting.
a. 1679. Hobbes, Rhet., II. xiv. (1681), 71. Jesting is witty contumely.
1700. Dryden, Pal. & Arc., I. 285. Jesting, said Arcite, suits but ill with pain.
1891. F. M. Crawford, Cigarette-Maker’s Rom., i. Vjera cast an imploring look on Dumnoff, as though beseeching him not to continue his jesting.
attrib. 1573–80. Baret, Alv., I 32. I had almost fallen into a shrewd sporting, or iesting matter, ere I was ware.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull, III. ii. A rope and a noose are no jesting matters!
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xv. (1889), II. 175. He will find that these are no jesting matters.
