laugh

laugh Recorded laughter of a woman (canonical)
laughs (plural)

From Middle English laughen, laghen, from (Anglian) Old English hlæhhan, hlehhan, (West Saxon) hliehhan, from Proto-West Germanic *hlahhjan, from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną.
cognates
Germanic: (with j-present) Scots lauch, Icelandic hlæja, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish le; (without) Low German lachen, Dutch lachen, German lachen.
Indo-European: Russian клекота́ть (klekotátʹ), клокота́ть (klokotátʹ), клохта́ть (kloxtátʹ) ‘to cluck, cackle’, Ancient Greek κλώζω (klṓzō), κλώσσω (klṓssō) ‘to cackle, clack’, Welsh cloch ‘bell’, possibly Latin glōcīre ‘to cluck’.

And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind.

1803, Oliver Goldsmith, The Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith, M.B.: With an Account of His Life, page 45:

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

1869, F. W. Robertson, Lectures and Addresses on Literary and Social Topics, page 87:

His deep laughs boomed through the room.

An expression of mirth particular to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter.

lag

expression of mirth peculiar to the human species


ha

Attested early 14th century, of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Danish ha, Dutch ha, Finnish ha, Hungarian ha, Latin ha, Latvian ha, Swedish ha.

Ha, ha, ha! That’s funny.


hah

Alternative form of heh (Semitic letter)


giraffe

Etymology tree
Classical Persian زُرْنَا (zurnā)
Classical Persian پَا (pā)
Classical Persian زُرْنَاپَا (zurnāpā)bor.
Classical Syriac ܙܪܝܦܐbor.
Arabic زُرَافَة (zurāfa)bor.
Italian giraffabor.
Middle French giraffebor.
English giraffe
Borrowed from Middle French giraffe, from Italian giraffa. Displaced camelopard.

etymon

Are you having a giraffe?!

Cockney rhyming slang
Cockney rhyming slang


laughter

en-noun

laughter (usually uncountable, plural laughters)

laughter a person's laughter (canonical)
laughters (plural)

From Middle English laughter, laghter, laȝter, from Old English hleahtor (“laughter, jubilation, derision”), from Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz (“laughter”), from Proto-Indo-European *klek-, *kleg- (“to shout”). Cognate with German Gelächter (“laughter, hilarity, merriment”), Danish and Norwegian latter (“laughter”), Icelandic hlátur (“laughter”). More at laugh.

cog

Their loud laughter betrayed their presence.

There was some laughter, and Roddle was left free to expand his ideas on the periodic visits of cowboys to the town.

1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock:

The sound of laughing, produced by air so expelled; any similar sound.


hilarity

en-noun

hilarity (countable and uncountable, plural hilarities)

From Latin hilaritas, "cheerfulness", from adjective hilaris, "cheerful", ultimately from Greek, + noun of state suffix -tas.

Think it not curious if we don't seem to be as sidesplittingly impressed with the hilarities in this picture as its promotion might lead you to expect. Hilarity is in it—hilarity at its best—as would be almost mandatory in any film with Miss Holliday.

1999, Vincent Canby, Janet Maslin, Peter M. Nichols, The New York times guide to the best 1000 movies ever made:

Many other Latin imports have become staples of our diet, like the burrito, which in Spanish means "little donkey." What other food-related hilarities are we missing out on?

2005, Library journal, volume 130, numbers 8-13, page 122:

(countable) Something that induces laughter.


chortle

Perhaps a blend of chuckle + snort. Coined by Lewis Carroll in his poem Jabberwocky, completed in 1855 but only introduced to the public in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass.

He frequently interrupted himself with chortles while he told us his favorite joke.

A joyful, somewhat muffled laugh, rather like a snorting chuckle.


cack

From Middle English cakken, from Old English *cacian, from Old English cac (“dung; excrement”), of uncertain origin and relation.
Cognate with English caca. Compare Dutch kakken (“to defecate”), German kacken (“to relieve oneself; defecate”), Latin cacō (“defecate”) (see there for more); compare also Irish cac (“feces, excrement”).

cog

Audio (AU)


cack

en-verb

cack (third-person singular simple present cacks, present participle cacking, simple past and past participle cacked)

cacks (present singular third-person)
cacking (participle present)
cacked (participle past)
cacked (past)

Possibly derived from cackle (“to squawk”, verb), which has semantically shifted to “laughing uncontrollably”.

Audio (AU)

I had to cack when you fell down the stairs.


nicker

onomatopoeic

Imitative


nicker

en-verb

nicker (third-person singular simple present nickers, present participle nickering, simple past and past participle nickered)

nickers (present singular third-person)
nickering (participle present)
nickered (participle past)
nickered (past)

onomatopoeic

Imitative

To produce a snigger or suppressed laugh.


nicker

The cutting lip which projects downward at the edge of a boring bit and cuts a circular groove in the wood to limit the size of the hole that is bored.


nicker

From Middle English niker, from Old English nicor, from Proto-Germanic *nikwis. Cognate with German Nix (“water demon”) and German Nixe (“mermaid”); also related to Old Norse nykr (“water demon”) (see there for further descendants). Doublet of nix.

And in another tale, told at Kemnitz of the Nicker, as he is there called, when he asks the midwife how much he owes her, she answers that she will take no more from him than from other people.

1891, Edwin Sidney Hartland, The Science of Fairy Tales, page 48:

A type of mythological sea creature or sea monster; also, a water sprite; a nix or nixie; a mermaid or merman.


haw

From Middle English ha (interjection). Compare Old Norse há (interjection), Middle Low German ha, hā (interjection), Old High German aha, hei (interjection).

You think that song was good? Haw!

The bitter laugh laughs at that which is not good, it is the ethical laugh. The hollow laugh laughs at that which is not true, it is the intellectual laugh. Not good! Not true! Well well. But the mirthless laugh is the dianoetic laugh, down the snout — Haw! — so.

1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, published 1959, →OCLC:

An imitation of laughter, often used to express scorn or disbelief. Often doubled or tripled (haw haw or haw haw haw).


cachinnate

en-verb

cachinnate (third-person singular simple present cachinnates, present participle cachinnating, simple past and past participle cachinnated)

cachinnates (present singular third-person)
cachinnating (participle present)
cachinnated (participle past)
cachinnated (past)

From Latin cachinnō (“laugh aloud”), of onomatopoeic origin.

The villain began to cachinnate and twirl his moustache.

There is a sense of spectral whirling through liquid gulfs of infinity, of dizzying rides through reeling universes on a comet’s tail, and of hysterical plunges from the pit to the moon and from the moon back again to the pit, all livened by a cachinnating chorus of the distorted, hilarious elder gods and the green, bat-winged mocking imps of Tartarus.

1928 February, H[oward] P[hillips] Lovecraft, “The Call of Cthulhu”, in Farnsworth Wright, editor, Weird Tales: A Magazine of the Bizarre and Unusual, volume 11, number 2, Indianapolis, Ind.: Popular Fiction Pub. Co., →OCLC, pages 159–178 and 287:

(intransitive) To laugh loudly, immoderately, or too often.


giggle

giggle (third-person singular simple present giggles, present participle giggling, simple past and past participle giggled)

giggles (present singular third-person)
giggling (participle present)
giggled (participle past)
giggled (past)

Early 16th century, probably of imitative origin.
Or, perhaps a frequentative based on dialectal English gig (“to creak”), from Middle English gigen (“to make a creaking sound”) + -le; or perhaps of Dutch or Low German origin: compare Saterland Frisian güüchelje (“to giggle”), West Frisian giechelje (“to giggle”), Dutch giechelen (“to giggle”), German Low German giecheln (“to giggle”), dialectal German giggln, gigglen (“to giggle”), German gickeln (“to giggle”). All of these words are likely onomatopoeic as well. Also compare Alemannic German Guege (“fiddle”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

The jokes had them giggling like little girls all evening.

To laugh gently in a playful, nervous, or affected manner.


giggle

onomatopoeic

imitative

My audience to this not-too-easy operation was a small group of Scottish school lasses, who seemed (perhaps naturally) to find the proceedings somewhat mysterious, but at any rate amusing. I wished they would go away, but they didn't, so I had to get on with the job to the accompaniment of a background of giggles!

1952 February, H. C. Casserley, “Permanent Wayfarings”, in Railway Magazine, page 77:

We put itching powder down his shirt for giggles.

The women thought it would be quite a giggle to have a strippergram at the bride's hen party.

For my first English breakfast I had kippers and pink champagne - what a combination, still it was a bit of a giggle and I know I've really arrived.

2013, Patricia Newell-Dunkley, Letters of a Travelling Lady, page 16:


risible

en-adj

risible (comparative more risible, superlative most risible)

more risible (comparative)
most risible (superlative)

From Middle French risible and directly from Late Latin rīsibilis, from Latin rīsus (“laughter”) + -ibilis, from the perfect passive participle of rīdeō (“laugh”).

the risible muscles

A joke merely affected her with silent convulsive twitchings, as though the risible faculties struggled somewhere within her but could not bring the laugh to birth.

1912, Arthur Quiller-Couch, chapter 20, in Hocken and Hunken:

"[…] I hope you find nothing risible in my complaisance?" replied his companion, something jealously.

1822, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 277:

Do you find it risible when I say the name, 'Biggus Dickus'?

1979, Monty Python's Life of Brian, spoken by Pontius Pilate (Michael Palin):

Whelan called the offer "risible", describing it as a "land grab for all the terms and conditions we have negotiating over the years". He demanded a no-strings pay offer that recognises the "significant cost of living increases" since the last pay rise in 2019.

2024 May 1, Mel Holley, “Network News: New action from ASLEF to hit Bank Holiday services”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 14:

Provoking laughter; ludicrous; ridiculous; humorously insignificant

We are got indeed into a merry world, Laughing is our main buſiniſs; as if becauſe it has bin made part of the Definition of man, that he his Riſible, his man-hood conſiſted in nothing elſe.

1674, Anonymous [Richard Allestree?], “Of Scoffing and Deriſion”, in The Government of the Tongue, At the Theater in Oxford, page 119:

She was half risible, half concerned.

1897, Thomas Hardy, chapter 8, in The Well-Beloved:

(of a person) Easily laughing; prone to laughter


muahahaha

Comes from the natural sound mu and the laughing sound hahaha, repeating.

(onomatopoeia) A conventionally evil laugh, as used by a supervillain.


snicker

(cricket, rare) A player who snicks the ball.


kink

From Middle English kinken, kynken, from Old English *cincian (attested in cincung), from Proto-West Germanic *kinkōn, from Proto-Germanic *kinkōną (“to laugh”), from Proto-Indo-European *gang- (“to mock, jeer, deride”), related to Old English canc (“jeering, scorn, derision”). Cognate with Dutch kinken (“to kink, cough”).

cog

(Scotland, dialect) A convulsive fit of coughing or laughter; a sonorous indraft of breath; a whoop; a gasp of breath caused by laughing, coughing, or crying.


haha

From Middle English haha, ha ha, from Old English ha ha (interjection), ultimately onomatopoeic. Compare Old Frisian haha (interjection), Middle Low German hahā, hahahā (interjection), Middle High German hahā, haha (interjection), all expressions of joy or of laughter.

An onomatopoeic representation of laughter.


snigger

British variant pronunciation and spelling of snicker.

Here the unfeeling Toad broke into a snigger, and then pulled himself together and tried to look particularly solemn.

1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 255:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, sometimes offensive elsewhere) A partly suppressed or broken laugh.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, sometimes offensive elsewhere) A sly or snide laugh.


snigger

en-verb

snigger (third-person singular simple present sniggers, present participle sniggering, simple past and past participle sniggered)

sniggers (present singular third-person)
sniggering (participle present)
sniggered (participle past)
sniggered (past)

[…]presently the Mole's spirits revived again, and he was even able to give some straight back-talk to a couple of moorhens who were sniggering to each other about his bedraggled appearance.

1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, page 22:

Peter, after the manner of man at the breakfast table, had allowed half his kedgeree to get cold and was sniggering over a letter. Sophia looked at him sharply. The only letter she had received was from her mother. Sophia's mother was not a humourist.

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

(intransitive, chiefly UK, Ireland, sometimes offensive elsewhere) To emit a snigger.


guffaw

Early 18th century, originally Scots, probably onomatopoeic.

On opening the little door, two hairy monsters flew at my throat, bearing me down, and extinguishing the light; while a mingled guffaw from Heathcliff and Hareton put the copestone on my rage and humiliation.

1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], Wuthering Heights: […], volume II, London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC:

He walked to the edge and they heard his hoarse guffaw of laughter as the arrows clanged and clattered against his impenetrable mail.

1905–1906, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter XX, in Sir Nigel, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], published January 1906, →OCLC:

He heaved up with a sulfurous curse, braced his legs and glared about him, with a burst of coarse guffaws in his ears and the reek of unwashed bodies in his nostrils.

1936, Robert E. Howard, chapter 15, in The Hour of the Dragon:

When Time magazine named Ann Coulter among its 100 "most influential people" last week, alongside such heavyweights as Ariel Sharon, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Kim Jong Il and the Dalai Lama, the choice produced guffaws online.

2005 April 19, Eric Boehlert, “Time hearts Ann Coulter”, in Salon, archived from the original on 2006-05-17:


uproarious

en-adj

uproarious (comparative more uproarious, superlative most uproarious)

more uproarious (comparative)
most uproarious (superlative)

/ʌpˈɹɔː.ɹɪ.əs/

/ˌʌpˈɹɔ.ɹi.əs/

From uproar + -ious (a variant of -ous (“suffix forming adjectives from nouns, to denote possession or presence of a quality in any degree, commonly in abundance”)).

The noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous, […] every child was conducting itself like forty. The consequences were uproarious beyond belief; but no one seemed to care; on the contrary, the mother and daughter laughed heartily, and enjoyed it very much; and the latter, soon beginning to mingle in the sports, got pillaged by the young brigands most ruthlessly.

1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 68–69:

One "set" off, another takes its place, he or she remaining longest on the floor receiving the most uproarious commendation, and so the dancing continues until broad daylight. It does not cease with the sound of the fiddle, but in that case they set up a music peculiar to themselves.

1853, Solomon Northup, chapter XV, in [David Wilson], editor, Twelve Years a Slave. […], London: Sampson Low, Son & Co.; Auburn, N.Y.: Derby and Miller, →OCLC, page 219:

The two bushes looked up in surprise, and when they saw Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion and Sir Hokus, they fell into each other's branches and burst into the most uproarious laughter.

1921, L[yman] Frank Baum [actually Ruth Plumly Thompson], “Dorothy and Sir Hokus Come to Fix City”, in The Royal Book of Oz […], Chicago, Ill.: The Reilly & Lee Co., →OCLC, page 165:

At the uproarious cheering which greeted his appearance, [Maximilien] Robespierre advanced into the open, whilst a sudden swift light of triumph darted from his narrow, pale eyes.

1922 August, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “One Crowded Hour of Glorious Life”, in The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, § 1, page 62:

Characterized by uproar, that is, loud, confused noise, or by noisy and uncontrollable laughter.

шумен

characterised by uproar, that is, loud, confused noise, or by noisy and uncontrollable laughter


sidesplitting

sidesplitting (comparative more sidesplitting, superlative most sidesplitting)

more sidesplitting (comparative)
most sidesplitting (superlative)

(of laughter) Intensely uncontrollable and genuine.


titter

en-verb

titter (third-person singular simple present titters, present participle tittering, simple past and past participle tittered)

titters (present singular third-person)
tittering (participle present)
tittered (participle past)
tittered (past)

First attested in the 1610s. Probably from Middle English *titeren, *titren (attested in Middle English titering (“hesitation, vacillation”)), probably a frequentative of Middle English titten (“to waver”), related to Old Norse titra (“to shake, shiver, quiver”), dialectal Swedish tittra (“to snicker”).

cog

1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Tales of a Wayside Inn Part First: The Sicilian's Tale - King Robert of Sicily
A group of tittering pages ran before.

"Thou coxy, cackling candle!" said Catweazle. "Why dost thou titter?"

1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 70:

Nor had the joke been a vulgar one: it was the kind of elegant pleasantry that the minister of foreign affairs might have told the crown prince at a garden party a generation ago, causing the surrounding listeners to titter with delight.

1997, Haruki Murakami, translated by Jay Rubin, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.; republished New York: Vintage Books, 1998, →ISBN, page 363:

To laugh or giggle in a somewhat subdued or restrained way, as from nervousness or poorly-suppressed amusement.

хихикам

to laugh or giggle in a somewhat subdued manner


titter

April 21, 1811, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table Talk
There was a titter of […] delight on his countenance.


bubble bath

en-noun

bubble bath (countable and uncountable, plural bubble baths)

A bath in which an additive is poured directly into the water that creates bubbles; a foam bath.

泡泡浴

bath in which an additive is poured into the water to create bubbles

A soap-based product to be added to a bath to create bubbles.

Are you having a bubble bath?!


cackle

en-verb

cackle (third-person singular simple present cackles, present participle cackling, simple past and past participle cackled)

cackles (present singular third-person)
cackling (participle present)
cackled (participle past)
cackled (past)

From Middle English caclen, cakelen, perhaps from Old English *caclian, *cacolian, from Proto-West Germanic *kakulōn, *kakilōn (“to cackle, gaggle, yelp, snarl”), perhaps of imitative origin.
Compare Dutch kakelen (“to cackle”), German Low German kakeln (“to cackle”), German kakeln (“to blather”), Danish kagle (“to cackle”), Swedish kackla (“to cackle”). Compare also Old English cahhetan, ċeahhettan (“to laugh loudly; cackle”), German gackern (“to cackle”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

When every goose is cackling.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

I heard a grey hen cackling among the ling; I called and thought, "If I could get a sight of you now, it would be your last cackle;" just then I heard something moving behind me on the path.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 28:

(intransitive) To make a sharp, broken noise or cry, as a hen or goose does.

крякам

to make a sharp, broken noise or cry, as a hen or goose does


evil laughter

There was evil laughter coming from the villain's lair as he was contemplating how he was going to defeat his heroic foe.

The stereotypical laughter produced by a villain, frequently represented as muahahaha or bwahaha.


evil laugh

A signature laugh associated with villains in films and acting, sometimes represented as muahahaha or bwahaha.


hee

"Good evening, Kristen," said I; "what are you telling that creates such fun?" "Hee, hee, hee!" screamed the youngsters, with great glee depicted in their faces; "Kristen has told us about the smith and the devil, and then about the lad who got him into the nut, and now he says he's going to tell us about Peter Sannum, whose horse the fairies stopped on the Asmyr hill."

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 251:

(onomatopoeia) An expression of laughter.


laughing stock

From laughing + stock (“source, supply; butt, target”). Compare also whipping-stock, jesting-stock.

compound

Pray you let us not be
laughing-stocks to other men's humours.

c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

When he talked, he talked nonsense, and made himself the laughing-stock of his hearers.

1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:

If anyone can restore dignity to a franchise that has been close to a laughing stock in the last few years, it's Gibbs.

2004 September 12, Judy Battista, “Pro Football: NFL Matchups, Week 1”, in New York Times, retrieved 2009-04-19:

The split was supposedly triggered by racism — specifically anti-Jewish racism. But on this front, the Independent Group have already become a laughingstock.

2019 February 19, Annie Cohen, 'Yes, There’s Anti-Semitism In Labour. No, Those Politicians Didn’t Quit Over It.', The Forward (retrieved 21 February 2019)

Toronto Transit Corporation had real issues. [...] My boss was removed in a coup three months after my arrival. I stood in and my learning curve went through the roof. Over five years, we went from being a laughing stock to winning awards.

2020 December 2, Andy Byford talks to Paul Clifton, “I enjoy really big challenges...”, in Rail, page 54:

(idiomatic) An object of ridicule, someone who is publicly ridiculed; the butt of a joke.


bwahaha

Bwahaha, they guffaw as they crush overheads into the corners with the same disdain they display when the clown ahead of them at the airport car-rental counter rents a Hyundai.

2002, Dave Whitehead, The Tennis Junkie's Guide (to Serious Humor), page 41:

“Bwa-ha-ha-ha,” came the unholy mirth from the cold white mask.

2005, Ron Fortier, Brother Grim, page 142:

written with spaces between the syllables

more additional instances of ha to the end

or by adding additional instances of the letter a in any syllable

(onomatopoeia, slang) Literary device used to express a fit of overwhelming or uncontrollable laughter, most frequently with a sinister connotation, see: evil laugh.


knee-slapping

The action of striking one's own knee with the hand, associated with hearty laughter.


belly laugh

The consistency of characterization that allows Fredricks to move from belly laughs to really serious moments within a matter of a few moments.

1979 December 22, Michael Bronski, “Small Lives in a Small Town”, in Gay Community News, volume 2, number 22, page 17:

The classic episode “Mr. Plow” has more than its share of belly laughs and unforgettable moments but my favorite moment in it is so small and subtle that it’s easy to miss.

2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):


lose one's shit

en-verb

lose one's shit (third-person singular simple present loses one's shit, present participle losing one's shit, simple past and past participle lost one's shit)

loses one's shit (present singular third-person)
losing one's shit (participle present)
lost one's shit (participle past)
lost one's shit (past)


hardy har har

/ˈhɑɹdiˈhɑɹˈhɑɹ/

/ˈhɑɹɾiˈhɑɹˈhɑɹ/


hee-hee

(onomatopoeia) A sound of high-pitched laughter


roll in the aisles

roll in the aisles (third-person singular simple present rolls in the aisles, present participle rolling in the aisles, simple past and past participle rolled in the aisles)

rolls in the aisles (present singular third-person)
rolling in the aisles (participle present)
rolled in the aisles (participle past)
rolled in the aisles (past)

Theatregoers may not roll in the aisles when lanky Ray Bolger impersonates a window dresser retiring for the night. . . . But plenty of people will be amused by Cartoonist Robert Wildhack.

1934 September 10, “Theatre: New Play in Manhattan”, in Time:

A comedy that this site has been championing since we first got a whiff of it earlier in the year, the film is every bit as politically incorrect as we'd been led to believe, and has many members of the raucous Scottish audience rolling in the aisles.

2005 August 23, “Film: Edinburgh - Day Three”, in Time Out New York, retrieved 2010-01-21:

(idiomatic, of an audience) To laugh uproariously.


bust out

bust out (third-person singular simple present busts out, present participle busting out, simple past and past participle busted out or (colloquial) bust out)

busts out (present singular third-person)
busting out (participle present)
busted out (participle past)
busted out (past)
bust out (colloquial participle past)
bust out (colloquial past)

(US, informal, nonstandard) To burst out (laughing).


outlaugh

outlaugh (third-person singular simple present outlaughs, present participle outlaughing, simple past and past participle outlaughed)

outlaughs (present singular third-person)
outlaughing (participle present)
outlaughed (participle past)
outlaughed (past)

From out- + laugh. Compare Saterland Frisian uutlachje, West Frisian útlaitsje, Dutch uitlachen (“to ridicule”), German Low German utlachen, German auslachen (“to laugh at”), Danish udle.

His apprehensions of being outlaughed will force him to continue in a restless obscurity. - Franklin

(transitive) To ridicule or laugh someone out of a purpose, principle, etc.; laugh down; discourage or put out of countenance by laughing.

At his father's quick guffaw he jumped back, trying to outlaugh him. "Mamma, did you hear what I said, Mamma?" Boardman felt his side. "My boy, that's a good one."

(transitive) To laugh louder than, surpass in laughing.


roll around

roll around (third-person singular simple present rolls around, present participle rolling around, simple past and past participle rolled around)

rolls around (present singular third-person)
rolling around (participle present)
rolled around (participle past)
rolled around (past)

Pigs like to roll around in the mud.

(intransitive) To move about on the ground while rotating and turning one's body.

I know a girl who's fun to roll around with, but can't have a conversation.

Ibanez shook out her jumpsuit sleeves. "Delta, the guy, was no great shakes; he rolled around with Lil, tried to roll me, and I put one of his own bullets between his eyes. Sorry."

2022 October 4, HarryBlank, “Drilling Down”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 2024-05-23:

(intransitive, slang) To indulge in sexual intercourse (with).

(intransitive, colloquial) To laugh very heartily.

By the time Friday rolls around, I'm ready for the weekend.

Sequels to fish-out-of-water comedies make progressively less sense the longer a series continues. By the time Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles rolled around in 2001, 15 years after the first Crocodile Dundee became a surprise blockbuster, the title character had been given an awfully long time to grow acclimated to those kooky Americans

2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club:

(intransitive) Of a time or event: to come up; to happen.


bust a gut

bust a gut (third-person singular simple present busts a gut, present participle busting a gut, simple past and past participle busted a gut or bust a gut)

busts a gut (present singular third-person)
busting a gut (participle present)
busted a gut (participle past)
busted a gut (past)
bust a gut (participle past)
bust a gut (past)

Something about the way he said that made me just bust a gut: I practically died laughing!

(slang) To develop a pain in the side from laughing hard.


anerithmon gelasma

Ancient Greek ἀνήριθμον γέλασμα (anḗrithmon gélasma), from Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound (90).

uder

ἀνήριθμον γέλασμα

With a stomach half full and a cerebrum hollow
As the tortoise-shell ere it was strung for Apollo,
Under contract to raise anerithmon gelasma
With rhymes so hard hunted they gasp with the asthma,

...give us the placid grinning kings, twanging their jolly bows over the rident horses, wounding those good-humored enemies, who tumble gayly off the towers, or drown, smiling, in the dimpling waters, amidst the anerithmon gelasma of the fish.

1855, William Makepeace Thackeray, Quarterly Review:

On one side lies the Indian Ocean, illimitable towrds the east, dimpled with its "anerithmon gelasama," and broken westward by a thin line of foam, creaming upon the whitest and finest of sand, the detritus of coralline and madrepore.

1859, Richard F. Burton, The Lake Regions of Central Africa, →ISBN:

(poetic) Uncountable laughter, said of ocean waves sparkling in sunlight.


crease up

en-verb

crease up (third-person singular simple present creases up, present participle creasing up, simple past and past participle creased up)

creases up (present singular third-person)
creasing up (participle present)
creased up (participle past)
creased up (past)

He fell flat on his face and everyone just creased up!

The last scene creased me up.

(informal, slang, UK, intransitive) To laugh (or make someone laugh) uncontrollably.


ho, ho, ho

A deep, hearty laugh or chuckle, most associated with Santa Claus.

ሆ ፣ ሆ ፣ ሆ

a laugh or chuckle, most associated with Santa Claus


bag up

bag up (third-person singular simple present bags up, present participle bagging up, simple past and past participle bagged up)

bags up (present singular third-person)
bagging up (participle present)
bagged up (participle past)
bagged up (past)

(slang, US) To be arrested or picked up by the police.


roll about

roll about (third-person singular simple present rolls about, present participle rolling about, simple past and past participle rolled about)

rolls about (present singular third-person)
rolling about (participle present)
rolled about (participle past)
rolled about (past)


in hysterics

Ryan had the place in hysterics by converting two spot kicks before the interval and he then produced the coup de grace with seven minutes left. The only sour note for Larne was the dismissal of Chris Gallagher, with 30 minutes left.

2024 August 29, Alex Mills, “Larne headed for Conference League group stages as Andy Ryan hat-trick secures historic Play-Off joy”, in Belfast Telegraph:

(informal) laughing or celebrating very hard and unable to stop.


snitter

snitter (third-person singular simple present snitters, present participle snittering, simple past and past participle snittered)

snitters (present singular third-person)
snittering (participle present)
snittered (participle past)
snittered (past)

She snittered once briefly, like a horse neighing, and cut it short. Glancing at her, Charlie saw her lips twisting nervously in an attempt to suppress the laughter which showed beneath her composure like a kitten under a coverlet.

1966, William McIlvanney, Remedy is None, page 44:

He started snittering. He sounded like he thought it was funny.

2001, Basil Copper, No Flowers for the General, page 12:

(intransitive) To giggle in a suppressed manner; to titter.


head

time spent laughing is time spent with the gods