joker

From joke +‎ -er, but in the sense of a playing card possibly by alteration of Jucker, also the origin of the name of the card game euchre.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒəʊkə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒoʊkɚ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊkə(ɹ)

joker (plural jokers)

1. A person who makes jokes.
2. (slang) A funny person.
3. A jester.

   Synonyms: court jester, fool, jester

4. A playing card that features a picture of a joker (that is, a jester) and that may be used as a wild card in some card games.
5. (figurative) Something kept in reserve that can be used to gain an advantage; a trump card.
   • 2008 September 18, Ian Rankin, The Hanging Garden: The #1 bestselling series that inspired BBC One’s REBUS, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     Rebus decided to use their joker. 'Mr Lintz made a phone call to this office. He was talking for over twenty minutes.'

   • 2012 January 1, Simon Packham, Silenced, Bonnier Publishing Fiction Ltd., →ISBN:

     Tash Wilson played her 'joker' , pulling her chair so close our legs were almost touching. 'Hey, Chris, do you want to go out sometime? All you've got to do is say the word.'

   • 2016 October 17, Dipo Adesida, My French Teacher Had an Igbo Accent: An Inspiring Collection of Memories, Memoirs and Mischiefs, Partridge Africa, →ISBN:

     The director made me understand that my bubble of stardom could burst just as soon as it had been inflated if I didn't watch my attitude. Then he used his joker. I had an understudy so if I messed up or tried to create a scene, I would be summarily replaced.

6. An unspecified, vaguely disreputable person.

   Synonym: clown

   Some joker keeps throwing eggs at my windows.

   1. A loser.

      Don't waste your breath on these jokers round here.

7. (New Zealand, colloquial) A man.
8. A clause in a contract that undermines its apparent provisions.
   • 1922, Farm Machinery and Equipment, page lxxxiii:

     Discussion of contracts and the many provisions contained therein led to a vote making it the sense of the convention that manufacturers should use a simple sales contract, free from jokers.

   • 1939, Canadian Parliament, Official Report of Debates, House of Commons, volume 218, page 858:

     Then, sir, on page 12 of the agreement there is a joker clause, which provides for payments in addition to the ten per cent, […]

   • 1942, Billboard, volume 54, number 41, page 5:

     Stone claimed that there was a Joker in the contract, one clause (No. 2) calling for two weeks' notice and another (No. 8) calling for payment on a par-day basis after the first two weeks.

   • 1958, Duncan Leroy Kennedy, Bill drafting, page 12:

     The object of these provisions is to prevent insertion of "jokers" or "sleepers" in bills and securing passage under the false color of the title.

9. (military) A friendly unit that acts as a suspected hostile unit in a military excercise.
   • 1998, APP-6A: Military Symbols for Land-Based Systems, page 9:

     Joker - A friendly track or contact acting as a "suspect" track for exercise purposes only. (STANAG 1241)

10. The option, in a pub quiz, of selecting one particular round in which one's team will score double points.

    We used our joker as soon as the topic of sports was announced, since we are sport experts.

• joke

• 🂿, 🃏, 🃟

• Jester on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Joker (playing card) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Joker (character) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Rojek, jerko

From English joker.

joker c (singular definite jokeren, plural indefinite jokere)

1. joker (playing card)

• “joker” in Den Danske Ordbog

Orthographic borrowing from English joker.

• IPA^(key): /ˈjoːkər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oːkər

joker m (plural jokers, diminutive jokertje n)

1. joker (playing card)
2. any wild card or similar, even in non-card games

Borrowed from English joker.

• IPA^(key): /ʒɔ.kɛʁ/
• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /dʒo.kœʁ/, [dʒoʊ̯.kœʁ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

joker m (plural jokers)

1. (card games) joker
2. (computing) wildcard
3. (on a game show) lifeline
4. (Scrabble) blank tile

• “joker”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From English joker.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒokər/ [ˈd͡ʒo.kər]
• Rhymes: -okər
• Syllabification: jo‧ker

jokêr (plural joker)

1. joker (playing card)

Unadapted borrowing from English joker.

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʐɔ.kɛr/
• Rhymes: -ɔkɛr
• Syllabification: jo‧ker

joker m animal

1. (card games) alternative spelling of dżoker

• joker in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• joker in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• Hyphenation: jo‧ker

joker m (plural jokers)

1. alternative form of jóquer

Borrowed from French joker, English joker.

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒo.kər/

joker m (plural jokeri)

1. (card games) joker

Borrowed from English joker, likely via French joker.

• IPA^(key): /ˈʒo.ceɾ/, /ʒoˈceɾ/
• Hyphenation: jo‧ker

joker (definite accusative jokeri, plural jokerler)

1. (card games) joker
2. (figurative) joker, trump card, something kept in reserve that can be used to gain an advantage

• “joker”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010) “joker”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “joker”, in Nişanyan Sözlük