banter Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun light teasing repartee
give-and-take; raillery; backchat.
verb be silly or tease one another
chaff; josh; jolly; kid.
- After we relaxed, we just kidded around

Prob. corrupted fr. F. badiner to joke, or perh. fr. E. bandy to beat to and fro. See Badinage, and cf. Barter fr. OF. barater.

imperfect & past participle Bantered(); present participle & verbal noun Bantering

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.
Hag-ridden by my own fancy all night, and then bantered on my haggard looks the next day. W. Irving.
To jest about; to ridicule in speaking of, as some trait, habit, characteristic, and the like. Archaic
If they banter your regularity, order, and love of study, banter in return their neglect of them. Chatham.
To delude or trick, -- esp. by way of jest. Obs.
We diverted ourselves with bantering several poor scholars with hopes of being at least his lordship's chaplain. De Foe.
To challenge or defy to a match. Colloq. Southern and Western U.S.

The act of bantering; joking or jesting; humorous or good-humored raillery; pleasantry.
Part banter, part affection. Tennyson.