Fool

English Meaning

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

1. One who is deficient in judgment, sense, or understanding.
2. One who acts unwisely on a given occasion: I was a fool to have quit my job.
3. One who has been tricked or made to appear ridiculous; a dupe: They made a fool of me by pretending I had won.
4. Informal A person with a talent or enthusiasm for a certain activity: a dancing fool; a fool for skiing.
5. A member of a royal or noble household who provided entertainment, as with jokes or antics; a jester.
6. One who subverts convention or orthodoxy or varies from social conformity in order to reveal spiritual or moral truth: a holy fool.
7. A dessert made of stewed or puréed fruit mixed with cream or custard and served cold.
8. Archaic A mentally deficient person; an idiot.
9. To deceive or trick; dupe: "trying to learn how to fool a trout with a little bit of floating fur and feather” ( Charles Kuralt).
10. To confound or prove wrong; surprise, especially pleasantly: We were sure they would fail, but they fooled us.
11. Informal To speak or act facetiously or in jest; joke: I was just fooling when I said I had to leave.
12. Informal To behave comically; clown.
13. Informal To feign; pretend: He said he had a toothache but he was only fooling.
14. To engage in idle or frivolous activity.
15. To toy, tinker, or mess: shouldn't fool with matches.
16. Informal Foolish; stupid: off on some fool errand or other.
17. fool around Informal To engage in idle or casual activity; putter: was fooling around with the old car in hopes of fixing it.
18. fool around Informal To engage in frivolous activity; make fun.
19. fool around Informal To engage in casual, often promiscuous sexual acts.
20. fool away To waste (time or money) foolishly; squander: fooled away the week's pay on Friday night.
21. play To act in an irresponsible or foolish manner.
22. play To behave in a playful or comical manner.