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a joke, or abounding in jokes; merry; sportive; humorous. To quit their austerity and be jocose and pleasant with an adversary. Shaftesbury. All . . . jocose or comical airs should be excluded. I. Watts.

Mingling mirth and seriousness. M. Green.

A person of consequence; as, the bigwigs of society. [Jocose] In our youth we have heard him spoken of by the bigwigs with extreme condescension. Dickens.

Onomatopoetic; as, the bowwow theory of language; a bowwow word. [Jocose.]

inhabitant of Great Britain, esp. one in the British military or naval service. [Now used jocosely]

Hence, any riding horse. [Jocose] Sir W. Scott.

Jocosely or in contempt, a boy or girl, esp. an awkward, rude, illmannered boy. O, thuo dissembling cub! what wilt thou be When time hath sowed a drizzle on thy case Shak.

The state of being a cub. [Jocose] "From cubhood to old age." W. B. Dawkins.

The state of being a cur; one who is currish. [Jocose] How durst he, I say, oppose thy curship! Hudibras.

conception as it thrilled for the first time through the brain a phonetic expression; -- jocosely so called from the analogy of the sound of a bell induced by the stroke of the clapper.

The realm or domain of dunces. [Jocose] Carlyle.

Hence, one who leads the way. [Jocose]

Loose hose or breeches; leather leg quards. The word is used loosely and often in a jocose sense.

The state or quality of a goody or goodwife [Jocose] Hudibraus.

Jocose; witty; humorous. Swift.

A pert girl; a frolicsome or sportive young woman; -- used jocosely. Goldsmith.

Something done or said in order to amuse; a joke; a witticism; a jocose or sportive remark or phrase. See Synonyms under Jest, v. i. I must be sad . . . smile at no man's jests. Shak. The Right Honorable gentleman is indebted to his memory for his jests, and to his imagination for his facts. Sheridan.…

A jocose act or saying; jocoseness. Sir T. Browne.

Given to jesting; jocose; as, a jocular person.

In jest; for sport or mirth; jocosely.