Banter1. (v. t.) To address playful good-natured ridicule to, -- the person addressed, or something pertaining to him, being the subject of the jesting; to rally; as, he bantered me about my credulity.
2. (v. t.) To jest about; to ridicule in speaking of, as some trait, habit, characteristic, and the like.
3. (v. t.) To delude or trick, -- esp. by way of jest.
4. (v. t.) To challenge or defy to a match.
5. (n.) The act of bantering; joking or jesting; humorous or good-humored raillery; pleasantry.
Thesaurus Entries
backchat, badinage, beard, blandish, blarney, booing, brave, buffoonery, cajole, catcalling, chaff, chaffing, challenge, chitchat, clownishness, con, dare, defy, deride, derision, exchange, face, fleering, flippancy, fool, foolery, fooling, front, fun, give-and-take, gossip, gossipry, grinning, guy, harlequinade, haze, hissing, hooting, horseplay, jape, jeering, jest, jesting, jive, joke, joking, jolly, josh, joshing, kid, kidding, leering, levity, make fun of, make merry with, mock, mockery, monkeyshines, needle, outface, panning, persiflage, pleasantry, poke fun at, put on, quiz, rag, ragging, raillery, rally, rallying, razz, razzing, repartee, rib, ribbing, ride, ridicule, roast, roasting, satirize, scoffing, shenanigans, small talk, smart-aleckiness, smartness, smirking, sneering, snickering, sniggering, snorting, soft-soap, sweet-talk, taunt, taunting, tease, teasing, tomfoolery, twit, twitting, venture, wheedle