to express mirth, pleasure, derision, or nervousness with an audible, vocal expulsion of air from the lungs that can range from a loud burst of sound to a series of quiet chuckles and is usually accompanied by characteristic facial and bodily movements.
2.
to experience the emotion so expressed: He laughed inwardly at the scene.
3.
to produce a sound resembling human laughter: A coyote laughed in the dark.
–verb (used with object)
4.
to drive, put, bring, etc., by or with laughter (often fol. by out, away, down, etc.): They laughed him out of town. We laughed away our troubles.
5.
to utter with laughter: He laughed his consent.
–noun
6.
the act or sound of laughing; laughter.
7.
an expression of mirth, derision, etc., by laughing.
8.
Informal. something that provokes laughter, amusement, or ridicule: After all the advance publicity, the prizefight turned out to be a laugh.
9.
laughs, Informal. fun; amusement.
—Verb phrases
10.
laugh at,
a.
to make fun of; deride; ridicule: They were laughing at him, not along with him.
b.
to be scornful of; reject: They stopped laughing at the unusual theory when it was found to be predictive.
c.
to find sympathetic amusement in; regard with humor: We can learn to laugh a little at even our most serious foibles.
11.
laugh off, to dismiss as ridiculous, trivial, or hollow: He had received threats but laughed them off as the work of a crank.
—Idioms
12.
have the last laugh, to prove ultimately successful after a seeming defeat or loss: She smiled slyly, because she knew she would yet have the last laugh on them.
13.
laugh out of court, to dismiss or depreciate by means of ridicule; totally scorn: His violent protests were laughed out of court by the others.
14.
laugh out of the other side of one's mouth. to undergo a chastening reversal, as of glee or satisfaction that is premature; be ultimately chagrined, punished, etc.; cry: She's proud of her promotion, but she'll laugh out of the other side of her mouth when the work piles up. Also, laugh on the wrong side of one's mouth or face.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME laughen, OE hlæh(h)an (Anglian); c. D, G lachen, ON hlǣja, Goth hlahjan]
—Synonyms 1. chortle, cackle, cachinnate, guffaw, roar; giggle, snicker, snigger, titter. 6.Laugh,chuckle,grin,smile refer to methods of expressing mirth, appreciation of humor, etc. A laugh may be a sudden, voiceless exhalation, but is usually an audible sound, either soft or loud: a hearty laugh. Chuckle suggests a barely audible series of sounds expressing private amusement or satisfaction: a delighted chuckle. A smile is a (usually pleasant) lighting up of the face and an upward curving of the corners of the lips (which may or may not be open); it may express amusement or mere recognition, friendliness, etc.: a courteous smile. A grin, in which the teeth are usually visible, is like an exaggerated smile, less controlled in expressing the feelings: a friendly grin.
To express certain emotions, especially mirth or delight, by a series of spontaneous, usually unarticulated sounds often accompanied by corresponding facial and bodily movements.
To show or feel amusement or good humor: an experience we would laugh about later on.
To feel or express derision or contempt; mock: I had to laugh when I saw who my opponent was.
To feel a triumphant or exultant sense of well-being: You won't be laughing when the truth comes out.
To produce sounds resembling laughter: parrots laughing and chattering in the trees.
v.
tr.
To affect or influence by laughter: laughed the speaker off the stage; laughed the proposal down.
To say with a laugh: He laughed his delight at the victory.
n.
The act of laughing.
The sound of laughing; laughter.
Informal Something amusing, absurd, or contemptible; a joke: The solution they recommended was a laugh.
Informal Fun; amusement. Often used in the plural: went along just for laughs.
Phrasal Verb(s): laugh at
To treat lightly; scoff at: a daredevil who laughed at danger. laugh off/away
To dismiss as ridiculously or laughably trivial: laughed off any suggestion that her career was over.
Idiom(s):
laugh out of the other side of (one's) mouth
To see one's good fortune turn to bad; suffer a humbling reversal.
Idiom(s):
laugh up/in (one's) sleeve
To rejoice or exult in secret, as at another's error or defeat.
[Middle English laughen, from Old English hlæhhan, probably ultimately of imitative origin.]
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]
to make it obvious that one regards something or someone as humorous, ridiculous or deserving scorn Example: Everyone will laugh at me if I wear that dress!; The others laughed at his fears.
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