FOOLING

fooling, casual

(adjective) characterized by a feeling of irresponsibility; “a broken back is nothing to be casual about; it is no fooling matter”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Verb

fooling

present participle of fool

Noun

fooling (plural foolings)

The act of one who fools.

Source: Wiktionary


FOOL

Fool, n. Etym: [Cf. F. fouler to tread, crush. Cf. 1st Foil.]

Definition: A compound of gooseberries scalded and crushed, with cream; -- commonly called gooseberry fool.

Fool, n. Etym: [OE. fol, n. & adj., F. fol, fou, foolish, mad; a fool, prob. fr. L. follis a bellows, wind bag, an inflated ball; perh. akin to E. bellows. Cf. Folly, Follicle.]

1. One destitute of reason, or of the common powers of understanding; an idiot; a natural.

2. A person deficient in intellect; one who acts absurdly, or pursues a course contrary to the dictates of wisdom; one without judgment; a simpleton; a dolt. Extol not riches, then, the toil of fools. Milton. Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other. Franklin.

3. (Script.)

Definition: One who acts contrary to moral and religious wisdom; a wicked person. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Ps. xiv. 1.

4. One who counterfeits folly; a professional jester or buffoon; a retainer formerly kept to make sport, dressed fantastically in motley, with ridiculous accouterments. Can they think me . . . their fool or jester Milton. April fool, Court fool, etc. See under April, Court, etc.

– Fool's cap, a cap or hood to which bells were usually attached, formerly worn by professional jesters.

– Fool's errand, an unreasonable, silly, profitless adventure or undertaking.

– Fool's gold, iron or copper pyrites, resembling gold in color.

– Fool's paradise, a name applied to a limbo (see under Limbo) popularly believed to be the region of vanity and nonsense. Hence, any foolish pleasure or condition of vain self-satistaction.

– Fool's parsley (Bot.), an annual umbelliferous plant (Æthusa Cynapium) resembling parsley, but nauseous and poisonous.

– To make a fool of, to render ridiculous; to outwit; to shame. [Colloq.] -- To play the fool, to act the buffoon; to act a foolish part. "I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly." 1 Sam. xxvi. 21.

Fool, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fooled; p. pr. & vb. n. Fooling.]

Definition: To play the fool; to trifle; to toy; to spend time in idle sport or mirth. Is this a time for fooling Dryden.

Fool, v. t.

1. To infatuate; to make foolish. Shak. For, fooled with hope, men favor the deceit. Dryden.

2. To use as a fool; to deceive in a shameful or mortifying manner; to impose upon; to cheat by inspiring foolish confidence; as, to fool one out of his money. You are fooled, discarded, and shook off By him for whom these shames ye underwent. Shak. To fool away, to get rid of foolishly; to spend in trifles, idleness, folly, or without advantage.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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