Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Ridicule \Rid"i*cule\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Ridiculed};p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Ridiculing}.]
   To laugh at mockingly or disparagingly; to awaken ridicule
   toward or respecting.

         I 've known the young, who ridiculed his rage.
                                                  --Goldsmith.

   Syn: To deride; banter; rally; burlesque; mock; satirize;
        lampoon. See {Deride}.

Ridicule \Rid"i*cule\, a. [F.]
   Ridiculous. [Obs.]

         This action . . . became so ridicule.    --Aubrey.

Ridicule \Rid"i*cule\, n. [F. ridicule, L. ridiculum a jest, fr.
   ridiculus. See {Ridiculous}.]
   1. An object of sport or laughter; a laughingstock; a
      laughing matter.

            [Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his
            deficiencies made him the ridicule of his
            contemporaries.                       --Buckle.

            To the people . . . but a trifle, to the king but a
            ridicule.                             --Foxe.

   2. Remarks concerning a subject or a person designed to
      excite laughter with a degree of contempt; wit of that
      species which provokes contemptuous laughter;
      disparagement by making a person an object of laughter;
      banter; -- a term lighter than derision.

            We have in great measure restricted the meaning of
            ridicule, which would properly extend over whole
            region of the ridiculous, -- the laughable, -- and
            we have narrowed it so that in common usage it
            mostly corresponds to ``derision'', which does
            indeed involve personal and offensive feelings.
                                                  --Hare.

            Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne, Yet
            touched and shamed by ridicule alone. --Pope.

   3. Quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness. [Obs.]

            To see the ridicule of this practice. --Addison.

   Syn: Derision; banter; raillery; burlesque; mockery; irony;
        satire; sarcasm; gibe; jeer; sneer.

   Usage: {Ridicule}, {Derision}, Both words imply
          disapprobation; but ridicule usually signifies
          good-natured, fun-loving opposition without manifest
          malice, while derision is commonly bitter and
          scornful, and sometimes malignant.

Source : WordNet®

ridicule
     n 1: language or behavior intended to mock or humiliate
     2: the act of deriding or treating with contempt [syn: {derision}]

ridicule
     v : subject to laughter or ridicule; "The satirists ridiculed
         the plans for a new opera house"; "The students poked fun
         at the inexperienced teacher"; "His former students
         roasted the professor at his 60th birthday" [syn: {roast},
          {guy}, {blackguard}, {laugh at}, {jest at}, {rib}, {make
         fun}, {poke fun}]