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chortle - 4 dictionary results

chor⋅tle

[chawr-tl] verb, -tled, -tling, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to chuckle gleefully.
–verb (used with object)
2. to express with a gleeful chuckle: to chortle one's joy.
–noun
3. a gleeful chuckle.

Origin:
b. chuckle and snort; coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass (1871)


chortler, noun
chor·tle   (chôr'tl)   
n.  A snorting, joyful laugh or chuckle.
intr. & tr.v.   chor·tled, chor·tling, chor·tles
To utter a chortle or express with a chortle.

[Blend of chuckle and snort.]
chor'tler n.
Word History: "'O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy." Perhaps Lewis Carroll would chortle a bit himself to find that people are still using the word chortle, which he coined in Through the Looking-Glass, published in 1872. In any case, Carroll had constructed his word well, combining the words chuckle and snort. This type of word is called a blend or a portmanteau word. In Through the Looking-Glass Humpty Dumpty uses portmanteau to describe the word slithy, saying, "It's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word" (the meanings being "lithe" and "slimy").

Chortle

Chor"tle\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Chortled; p. pr. & vb. n. Chor"tling.] A word coined by Lewis Carroll (Charles L. Dodgson), and usually explained as a combination of chuckle and snort. [Humorous]

O frabjous day ! Callooh ! Callay ! He chortled in his joy. --Lewis Carroll.

chortle 
coined 1872 by Lewis Carroll in "Through the Looking Glass," probably from chuckle and snort.
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