droll

& s. [Fr. drôle a boon companion, a pleasant wag; droler =to play the wag ( Cotgrave ); from Dut. drollig =burlesque, odd, from Dan. trold ; Sw.troll; hobgoblin, "a famous word in Scand in avian story, which makes continual mention of the odd pranks played by them." ( Skeat .)] A. As adj .: Odd, merry, facetious, ludicrous, comical, laughable, queer, ridiculous. (Applied both to persons and things.) *B. As substantive : 1. A merry fellow, a jester, a buffoon; one whose busine it is to raise mirth and laughter by ludicrous or comical pranks or tricks. "The two drolls , apprehending that news, were as glad as if they had been invited to a wedding."- Comical His tory of Franc i on (1655). 2. A puppet-show, a farce. "To go to Smith field to see the jack puddings, drolls , and pick-pockets."- Poor Robin (1736). *droll-booth, s. A traveling theater; a place of exhibition for puppet-shows. "A throng of searchers after truth Were crowding at the alley's mouth, Wherein the conventicle stood, Like Smith field droll - booth , built with wood." Hudibras Redivivus , pt. v. (1706.) IMG:content-0555.jpg:[blocks in formation] 1. To play the wag or buffoon; to jest, to joke. 2. To trifle. "He would scarce droll away the sum he offered." The Slighted Maid , p. 7. B. Trans.: To lead or influence by jest or drollery; to cajole, to trick, to cheat. "Men that will not be reasoned into their senses, may yet be laughed or drolled into them."-L'Estrange. *drōll-er, s. [Eng. droll ; -er.] A droll, a jester, a buffoon. "He is making an experiment by another sort of enemies, and sets the apes and drollers upon it."-Glanvill: Sermons, p. 193.