The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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.
      [1913 Webster]

            [Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his
            deficiencies made him the ridicule of his
            contemporaries.                       --Buckle.
      [1913 Webster]

            To the people . . . but a trifle, to the king but a
            ridicule.                             --Foxe.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            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.
      [1913 Webster]

            Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne,
            Yet touched and shamed by ridicule alone. --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            To see the ridicule of this practice. --Addison.
      [1913 Webster]

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

   Usage: Ridicule, Derision, mockery, ribbing: All four
          words imply disapprobation; but ridicule and mockery
          may signify either good-natured opposition without
          manifest malice, or more maliciously, an attempt to
          humiliate. Derision is commonly bitter and scornful,
          and sometimes malignant. ribbing is almost always
          good-natured and fun-loving.
          [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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.
   [1913 Webster]

         I 've known the young, who ridiculed his rage.
                                                  --Goldsmith.
   [1913 Webster]

   Syn: To deride; banter; rally; burlesque; mock; satirize;
        lampoon. See Deride.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Ridicule \Rid"i*cule\, a. [F.]
   Ridiculous. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]

         This action . . . became so ridicule.    --Aubrey.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

ridicule
    n 1: language or behavior intended to mock or humiliate
    2: the act of deriding or treating with contempt [syn:
       derision, ridicule]
    v 1: 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: ridicule,
         roast, guy, blackguard, laugh at, jest at, rib,
         make fun, poke fun]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

190 Moby Thesaurus words for "ridicule":
   airs, arrogance, badinage, banter, barrack, be above,
   be contemptuous of, be disrespectful, be merry with,
   be overfamiliar with, brashness, brassiness, brazenfacedness,
   brazenness, burlesque, care nothing for, caricature, chaff,
   cheekiness, clannishness, cliquishness, cockiness, contemn,
   contempt, contemptuousness, contumely, crack a joke, crack wise,
   dare, denigrate, denigration, deprecate, deprecation, depreciate,
   depreciation, deride, deriding, derision, despise, despite,
   discommend, discommendation, discourtesy, disdain, disdainfulness,
   disesteem, dishonor, disparage, disparagement, dispraise, disprize,
   disrespect, disrespectfulness, disvaluation, disvalue, dump on,
   exchange, exclusiveness, face of brass, feel contempt for,
   feel superior to, fleer at, flippancy, flout, fooling,
   fooling around, freshness, fun, get fresh, get smart, gibe,
   gibe at, gibing, give-and-take, good-natured banter, grin at, guy,
   harmless teasing, hauteur, have a nerve, have the cheek,
   have the gall, haze, hold beneath one, hold cheap,
   hold in contempt, hold in derision, impertinence, impudence,
   insolence, insult, irreverence, jape, jeer, jeer at, jeering, jest,
   jibe, jive, joke, josh, joshing, kid, kid around, kidding,
   kidding around, lack of respect, lampoon, laugh at, laugh to scorn,
   look down upon, lout, make a funny, make bold, make free with,
   make fun, make fun of, make game of, make merry with, mimic,
   misprize, mock, mockery, mocking, not respect, pan, parody,
   persiflage, pillory, play on words, pleasantry, point at,
   poke fun at, presume, pun, put down, put one on, quip, quiz, rag,
   raillery, rally, rallying, rank low, razz, razzing, rib, ribbing,
   ride, roast, rudeness, scintillate, scoff, scoff at, scorn,
   scornfulness, scout, send up, set at naught, show disrespect for,
   smile at, sneer, sneer at, sneeze at, snicker at, sniff at,
   sniffiness, snigger at, snobbishness, snootiness, snort at,
   snottiness, sovereign contempt, sparkle, sport, superciliousness,
   take a liberty, take liberties, take liberties with, taunt,
   taunting, tease, think nothing of, toploftiness, travesty,
   treat with disrespect, trifle with, twit, utter a mot, wisecrack



The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

RIDICULE, n.  Words designed to show that the person of whom they are
uttered is devoid of the dignity of character distinguishing him who
utters them.  It may be graphic, mimetic or merely rident.
Shaftesbury is quoted as having pronounced it the test of truth -- a
ridiculous assertion, for many a solemn fallacy has undergone
centuries of ridicule with no abatement of its popular acceptance.
What, for example, has been more valorously derided than the doctrine
of Infant Respectability?