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# banter

«banter» in Mova's school dictionary: **Friendly, playful teasing and joking talk between people:…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (banter); verb (banter, banters, bantered, bantering)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Friendly, playful teasing and joking talk between people: the friends' banter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/banter/#m1)

2) (verb) To talk in this friendly, joking way. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/banter/#m2)

3) (UK slang, "bants" or "just banter") Jokes that are meant to be funny, though sometimes they hurt. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/banter/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life and stories banter shows friends who are relaxed together. In safety and kindness lessons pupils learn that if a joke hurts someone or is about how they look, it is not banter but unkindness or bullying, even if someone says "it's just banter". Phrases: friendly banter, a bit of banter, it was only banter, bants (slang).

### examples

- There was friendly banter between the two teams before the match. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/banter/#x1)
- Dad and Grandad banter about football every Sunday. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/banter/#x2)
- The shopkeeper bantered with the customers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/banter/#x3)
- (UK slang) "Don't get upset, it's just bants." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/banter/#x4)
- If it hurts someone's feelings, it isn't banter anymore. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/banter/#x5)
- The class enjoyed the teacher's banter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/banter/#x6)
- (Ireland) The craic and banter at the party were great. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/banter/#x7)
- Several others bantered the old man, but he appeared to be in a good humor. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/banter/#x8)

### note

Uncountable noun: "some banter", not "a banter". "Bants" is UK slang. Banter should be fun for everyone; using "only banter" as an excuse for unkind words is a trap.

### In the corpora

- [«It's just banter, innit,» he says afterwards — banter means jokey teasing.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/468-nice-alone-mean-in-a-group/6/)
- [Teasing is only banter if everyone, including the person teased, is laughing.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/468-nice-alone-mean-in-a-group/26/)
- [Derbies are games between local rivals; rivalry is fine as banter, not as fights or hate.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/11/)
- ["It's not banter if only one side is laughing."](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/5/)
- ["It's not banter if only one side is laughing": a joke that only the joker enjoys is picking on someone.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/9/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «banter» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/banter/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.