laugh definition | Dictionary.com

laugh

[laf, lahf]

–verb (used without object)

1.	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.

15.	laugh up one's sleeve. sleeve (def. 6).

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.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To laugh

laugh (lāf, läf)

v. laughed, laugh·ing, laughs

v. intr.

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.
1. To feel or express derision or contempt; mock: I had to laugh when I saw who my opponent was.
2. 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.

1. The act of laughing.
2. 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 atTo treat lightly; scoff at: a daredevil who laughed at danger.
laugh off/awayTo 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) mouthTo see one's good fortune turn to bad; suffer a humbling reversal.

Idiom(s):
laugh up/in (one's) sleeveTo rejoice or exult in secret, as at another's error or defeat.

[Middle English laughen, from Old English hlæhhan, probably ultimately of imitative origin.]
laugh'er n., laugh'ing·ly adv.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Laugh

Laugh\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Laughed; p. pr. & vb. n. Laughing.] [OE. laughen, laghen, lauhen, AS. hlehhan, hlihhan, hlyhhan, hliehhan; akin to OS. hlahan, D. & G. lachen, OHG. hlahhan, lahhan, lahh?n, Icel. hl[ae]ja. Dan. lee, Sw. le, Goth. hlahjan; perh. of imitative origin.]

1. To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and eyes, and usually accompanied by the emission of explosive or chuckling sounds from the chest and throat; to indulge in laughter.

Queen Hecuba laughed that her eyes ran o'er. --Shak.

He laugheth that winneth. --Heywood's Prov.

2. Fig.: To be or appear gay, cheerful, pleasant, mirthful, lively, or brilliant; to sparkle; to sport.

Then laughs the childish year, with flowerets crowned. --Dryden.

In Folly's cup still laughs the bubble Joy. --Pope.

To laugh at, to make an object of laughter or ridicule; to make fun of; to deride.

No wit to flatter left of all his store, No fool to laugh at, which he valued more. --Pope.

To laugh in the sleeve , to laugh secretly, or so as not to be observed, especiall while apparently preserving a grave or serious demeanor toward the person or persons laughed at.

To laugh out, to laugh in spite of some restraining influence; to laugh aloud.

To laugh out of the other corner (or side) of the mouth, to weep or cry; to feel regret, vexation, or disappointment after hilarity or exaltation. [Slang]

Laugh

Laugh\, v. t. 1. To affect or influence by means of laughter or ridicule.

Will you laugh me asleep, for I am very heavy? --Shak.

I shall laugh myself to death. --Shak.

2. To express by, or utter with, laughter; -- with out.

From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause. --Shak.

To laugh away. (a) To drive away by laughter; as, to laugh away regret. (b) To waste in hilarity. "Pompey doth this day laugh away his fortune." --Shak.

To laugh down. (a) To cause to cease or desist by laughter; as, to laugh down a speaker. (b) To cause to be given up on account of ridicule; as, to laugh down a reform.

To laugh one out of, to cause one by laughter or ridicule to abandon or give up; as, to laugh one out of a plan or purpose.

To laugh to scorn, to deride; to treat with mockery, contempt, and scorn; to despise.

Laugh

Laugh\, n. An expression of mirth peculiar to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter. See Laugh, v. i.

And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind. --Goldsmith.

That man is a bad man who has not within him the power of a hearty laugh. --F. W. Robertson.

Language Translation for : laugh

Spanish: reír,

German: lachen,

Japanese: 笑う

More Translations »

laugh (v.)

O.E. (Anglian) hlæhhan, earlier hlihhan, from P.Gmc. *klakhjanan (cf. O.N. hlæja, Ger. lachen, Goth. hlahjan), from PIE *klak-, of imitative origin (cf. L. cachinare "to laugh aloud," Skt. kakhati "laughs," O.C.S. chochotati "laugh," Gk. kakhazein).

"If I coveted nowe to avenge the injuries that you have done me, I myght laughe in my slyve." [John Daus, "Sleidanes Commentaries," 1560]

The noun is first attested 1690, from the verb. Meaning "a cause of laughter" is from 1895; ironic use (e.g. that's a laugh) attested from 1930. Laughter is O.E. hleahtor, from P.Gmc. *hlahtraz (cf. O.N. hlatr, Ger. Gelächter). Nitrous oxide has been called laughing gas since 1842 (for its exhilarating effects). Laugh track "canned laughter on a TV program" is from 1966.

laugh

In addition to the idioms beginning with laugh, also see canned laughter; die laughing; it's to laugh; last laugh; no joke (laughing matter); shake with laughter.

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