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laughing

 - 4 dictionary results

laugh⋅ing

  [laf-ing, lah-fing]
Use laughing in a Sentence
–adjective
1. that laughs or is given to laughter: a laughing child.
2. uttering sounds like human laughter, as some birds.
3. suggesting laughter by brightness, color, sound, etc.: a laughing stream; laughing flowers.
4. laughable: The increase in crime is no laughing matter.
–noun
5. laughter.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME; see laugh, -ing 1 , -ing 2

Related forms:
laugh⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To laughing
laugh   (lāf, läf)   
v.   laughed, laugh·ing, laughs

v.   intr.

  1. To express certain emotions, especially mirth or delight, by a series of spontaneous, usually unarticulated sounds often accompanied by corresponding facial and bodily movements.

  2. 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.

  4. To produce sounds resembling laughter: parrots laughing and chattering in the trees.

v.   tr.

  1. To affect or influence by laughter: laughed the speaker off the stage; laughed the proposal down.

  2. To say with a laugh: He laughed his delight at the victory.

n.  

    1. The act of laughing.

    2. The sound of laughing; laughter.

  2. Informal Something amusing, absurd, or contemptible; a joke: The solution they recommended was a laugh.

  3. 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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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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