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chortle
5 dictionary results for: chortle
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
chor·tle 
[chawr-tl] Pronunciation Key verb, -tled, -tling, noun
[chawr-tl] Pronunciation Key verb, -tled, -tling, noun –verb (used without object)
–verb (used with object)
–noun
| 1. | to chuckle gleefully. |
| 2. | to express with a gleeful chuckle: to chortle one's joy. |
| 3. | a gleeful chuckle. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| chor·tle
(chôr'tl) Pronunciation Key
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"). |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
chortle
chortle
coined 1872 by Lewis Carroll in "Through the Looking Glass," probably from chuckle and snort.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| chortle | |
noun | |
| 1. | a soft partly suppressed laugh |
verb | |
| 1. | laugh quietly or with restraint [syn: chuckle] |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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