8  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Fool  \Fool\,  n.  [Cf.  F.  fouler  to  tread,  crush.  Cf  1st  {Foil}.] 
  A  compound  of  gooseberries  scalded  and  crushed,  with  cream; 
  --  commonly  called  gooseberry  fool. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Fool  \Fool\,  n.  [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.)  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 
  ({[AE]thusa  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. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Fool  \Fool\,  v.  i.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Fooled};  p.  pr  &  vb  n. 
  {Fooling}.] 
  To  play  the  fool;  to  trifle;  to  toy;  to  spend  time  in  idle 
  sport  or  mirth. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Fool  \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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  fool 
  adj  1:  (informal  terms)  "gave  me  a  cockamamie  reason  for  not 
  going";  "wore  a  goofy  hat";  "a  silly  idea";  "some 
  wacky  plan  for  selling  more  books"  [syn:  {cockamamie}, 
  {cockamamy},  {fool(a)},  {goofy},  {sappy},  {silly},  {wacky}, 
  {zany},  {unreasonable}] 
  2:  (informal)  having  or  revealing  stupidity;  "ridiculous 
  anserine  behavior";  "a  dopey  answer";  "a  dopey  kid";  "some 
  fool  idea  about  rewriting  authors'  books"  [syn:  {anserine}, 
  {dopy},  {dopey},  {fool(a)},  {foolish},  {goosey},  {goosy}, 
  {gooselike}] 
  n  1:  a  person  who  lacks  good  judgment  [syn:  {sap},  {saphead},  {muggins}, 
  {tomfool}] 
  2:  a  person  who  is  gullible  and  easy  to  take  advantage  of  [syn: 
  {chump},  {fish},  {gull},  {mark},  {patsy},  {fall  guy},  {sucker}, 
  {schlemiel},  {shlemiel},  {soft  touch},  {mug}] 
  3:  a  professional  clown  employed  to  to  entertain  a  king  or 
  nobleman  in  the  middle  ages  [syn:  {jester}] 
  v  1:  make  a  fool  or  dupe  of  [syn:  {dupe},  {gull},  {befool}] 
  2:  spend  frivolously  and  unwisely;  "Fritter  away  one's 
  inheritance"  [syn:  {fritter},  {frivol  away},  {dissipate}, 
  {shoot},  {fritter  away},  {fool  away}] 
  3:  fool  or  hoax;  "The  immigrant  was  duped  because  he  trusted 
  everyone";  "You  can't  fool  me!"  [syn:  {gull},  {dupe},  {slang}, 
  {befool},  {cod},  {put  on},  {take  in},  {put  one  over},  {put 
  one  across}] 
  4:  indulge  in  horseplay;  "Enough  horsing  around--let's  get  back 
  to  work!"  [syn:  {horse  around},  {arse  around},  {fool 
  around}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  fool  n.  As  used  by  hackers,  specifically  describes  a  person 
  who  habitually  reasons  from  obviously  or  demonstrably  incorrect 
  premises  and  cannot  be  persuaded  by  evidence  to  do  otherwise;  it  is  not 
  generally  used  in  its  other  senses  i.e.,  to  describe  a  person  with  a 
  native  incapacity  to  reason  correctly,  or  a  clown.  Indeed,  in  hackish 
  experience  many  fools  are  capable  of  reasoning  all  too  effectively  in 
  executing  their  errors.  See  also  {cretin},  {loser},  {fool  file}. 
 
  The  Algol  68-R  compiler  used  to  initialize  its  storage  to  the 
  character  string  "F00LF00LF00LF00L..."  because  as  a  pointer  or  as  a 
  floating  point  number  it  caused  a  crash,  and  as  an  integer  or  a  character 
  string  it  was  very  recognizable  in  a  dump.  Sadly,  one  day  a  very  senior 
  professor  at  Nottingham  University  wrote  a  program  that  called  him  a  fool. 
  He  proceeded  to  demonstrate  the  correctness  of  this  assertion  by  lobbying 
  the  university  (not  quite  successfully)  to  forbid  the  use  of  Algol  on 
  its  computers.  See  also  {DEADBEEF}. 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  FOOL 
 
  Fool's  Lisp.  A  small  {Scheme}  {interpreter}. 
 
  {(ftp://scam.berkeley.edu/src/local/fools.tar.Z)} 
 
  (1994-10-04) 
 
 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  FOOL,  n.  A  person  who  pervades  the  domain  of  intellectual  speculation 
  and  diffuses  himself  through  the  channels  of  moral  activity.  He  is 
  omnific,  omniform,  omnipercipient,  omniscience,  omnipotent.  He  it  was 
  who  invented  letters,  printing,  the  railroad,  the  steamboat,  the 
  telegraph,  the  platitude  and  the  circle  of  the  sciences.  He  created 
  patriotism  and  taught  the  nations  war  --  founded  theology,  philosophy, 
  law,  medicine  and  Chicago.  He  established  monarchical  and  republican 
  government.  He  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting  --  such  as 
  creation's  dawn  beheld  he  fooleth  now  In  the  morning  of  time  he  sang 
  upon  primitive  hills,  and  in  the  noonday  of  existence  headed  the 
  procession  of  being  His  grandmotherly  hand  was  warmly  tucked-in  the 
  set  sun  of  civilization,  and  in  the  twilight  he  prepares  Man's  evening 
  meal  of  milk-and-morality  and  turns  down  the  covers  of  the  universal 
  grave.  And  after  the  rest  of  us  shall  have  retired  for  the  night  of 
  eternal  oblivion  he  will  sit  up  to  write  a  history  of  human 
  civilization. 
 
 

browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
or search   thesauri dictionary search words