Definitions for laugh
læf, lɑflaugh

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:2.7 / 3 votes

1. laugh, laughternoun

   the sound of laughing

2. laughnoun

   a facial expression characteristic of a person laughing

   "his face wrinkled in a silent laugh of derision"

3. joke, gag, laugh, jest, japeverb

   a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter

   "he told a very funny joke"; "he knows a million gags"; "thanks for the laugh"; "he laughed unpleasantly at his own jest"; "even a schoolboy's jape is supposed to have some ascertainable point"

4. laugh, express joy, express mirthverb

   produce laughter

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.5 / 2 votes

1. laughnoun

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

2. laughnoun

   Something that provokes mirth or scorn.

3. laughnoun

   A fun person.

4. laughverb

   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.

5. laughverb

   To be or appear cheerful, pleasant, mirthful, lively, or brilliant; to sparkle; to sport.

6. laughverb

   To make an object of laughter or ridicule; to make fun of; to deride; to mock.

7. laughverb

   To affect or influence by means of laughter or ridicule.

8. laughverb

   To express by, or utter with, laughter.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Laughnoun

   The convulsion caused by merriment; an inarticulate expression of sudden merriment.

   Etymology: from the verb.

   Me gentle Delia beckons from the plain,
   Then hid in shades, eludes her eager swain;
   But feigns a laugh, to see me search around,
   And by that laugh the willing fair is found. Alexander Pope, Spring.

2. To Laughverb

   To deride; to scorn.

   Be bloody, bold and resolute; laugh to scorn
   The pow’r of man. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

   A wicked soul shall make him to be laughed to scorn of his enemies. Ecclus. vi. 4.

3. To LAUGHverb

   Etymology: hlahan , Saxon; lachen, German and Dutch; lach, Scottish.

   1. To make that noise which sudden merriment excites.

   You saw my master wink and laugh upon you. William Shakespeare.

   There’s one did laugh in’s sleep, and one cried, Murther!
   They wak’d each other. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

   At this fusty stuff
   The large Achilles, on his prest-bed lolling,
   From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause. William Shakespeare.

   Laughing causeth a continued expulsion of the breath with the loud noise, which maketh the interjection of laughing, shaking of the breast and sides, running of the eyes with water, if it be violent. Francis Bacon, Natural History.

   2. [In poetry.] To appear gay, favourable, pleasant, or fertile.

   Entreat her not the worse, in that I pray
   You use her well; the world may laugh again,
   And I may live to do you kindness, if
   You do it her. William Shakespeare, Henry VI. p. i.

   Then laughs the childish year with flowrets crown’d. Dry.

   The plenteous board, high-heap’d with cates divine,
   And o’er the foaming bowl the laughing wine. Alexander Pope.

   3. To Laugh at. To treat with contempt; to ridicule.

   Presently prepare thy grave;
   Lie where the light foam of the sea may beat
   Thy grave-stone daily; make thine epitaph,
   That death in me at others lives may laugh. William Shakespeare.

   ’Twere better for you, if ’twere not known in council; you’ll be laugh’d at. William Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor.

   The dissolute and abandoned, before they are aware of it, are often betrayed to laugh at themselves, and upon reflection find, that they are merry at their own expence. Joseph Addison, Freeholder, №. 45.

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

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. laugh

   Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laughter can rise from such activities as being tickled, or from humorous stories or thoughts. Most commonly, it is considered an auditory expression of a number of positive emotional states, such as joy, mirth, happiness, or relief. On some occasions, however, it may be caused by contrary emotional states such as embarrassment, surprise, or confusion such as nervous laughter or courtesy laugh. Age, gender, education, language, and culture are all indicators as to whether a person will experience laughter in a given situation. Some other species of primate (chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans) show laughter-like vocalizations in response to physical contact such as wrestling, play chasing or tickling. Laughter is a part of human behavior regulated by the brain, helping humans clarify their intentions in social interaction and providing an emotional context to conversations. Laughter is used as a signal for being part of a group—it signals acceptance and positive interactions with others. Laughter is sometimes seen as contagious, and the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a positive feedback.The study of humor and laughter, and its psychological and physiological effects on the human body, is called gelotology.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. laugh

   Laugh is a natural expression that typically involves making a sound or displaying facial expressions of amusement, joy, or pleasure, often accompanied by a series of rapid, rhythmic movements of the diaphragm and other muscles involved in respiration. It is a human response to humor, happiness, or comedy, and is considered a form of positive emotional release.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Laughverb

   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

2. Laughverb

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

3. Laughverb

   to affect or influence by means of laughter or ridicule

4. Laughverb

   to express by, or utter with, laughter; -- with out

5. Laughnoun

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

6. Etymology: [OE. laughen, laghen, lauhen, AS. hlehhan, hlihhan, hlyhhan, hliehhan; akin to OS. hlahan, D. & G. lachen, OHG. hlahhan, lahhan, lahhn, Icel. hlja,W Dan. lee, Sw. le, Goth. hlahjan; perh. of imitative origin.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Laugh

   Laugh is the sixth studio album by Keller Williams, released in 2002.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Laugh

   läf, v.i. to express mirth or joy by an explosive inarticulate sound of the voice and peculiar facial distortion: to be gay or lively: make merry (with at), to flout.—v.t. to express with a laugh: to affect in some way by laughter.—n. the sound caused by merriment.—adj. Laugh′able, ludicrous.—n. Laugh′ableness.—adv. Laugh′ably.—ns. Laugh′er; Laugh′ing-gas, a gas which excites laughter, called nitrous oxide, used as an anæsthetic in minor surgical operations, as in dentistry; Laugh′ing-jack′ass, the great kingfisher of Australia.—adv. Laugh′ingly, in a laughing manner.—ns. Laugh′ing-stock, an object of ridicule, like something stuck up to be laughed at; Laugh′ter, act or noise of laughing.—Laugh a thing off, to treat as if worthy only of a laugh; Laugh in one's sleeve, to laugh inwardly; Laugh one out of, to make a person abandon a habit, &c., by laughing at him for it; Laugh on the wrong side of the mouth, to be made feel disappointment or sorrow, esp. after boasting, &c.; Laugh to scorn, to deride or jeer at.—Have the laugh on one's side, to be able to laugh at another through getting the better of him by superior dexterity, &c. [A.S. hlihan; Ger. lachen, Goth. hlahjan; prob. imit.]

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon WurdzRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. LAUGH

   A peculiar contortion of the human countenance, voluntary or involuntary, superinduced by a concatenation of external circumstances, seen or heard, of a ridiculous, ludicrous, jocose, mirthful, funny, facetious or fanciful nature and accompanied by a cackle, chuckle, chortle, cachinnation, giggle gurgle, guffaw or roar.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Laughverb

   make the spontaneous sounds and movements of the face and body that are the instinctive expressions of lively amusement and sometimes also of contempt or derision.

   I laughed when I heard the great news

   
   

   Submitted by ahavakunin on February 8, 2022  

Matched Categories

1. • Facial Expression

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'laugh' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4737

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'laugh' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2116

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'laugh' in Nouns Frequency: #1965

4. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'laugh' in Verbs Frequency: #234

Anagrams for laugh »

1. Aghul

How to pronounce laugh?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say laugh in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of laugh in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of laugh in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of laugh in a Sentence

1. Chen Nian:

   The contradictory traits of a' thug' and Peppa Pig make people laugh, peppa Pig's an act of subculture rebellion.

2. Anne-Marie Voskuijl:

   My mother felt that what she did was nothing special. If you find yourself in such a situation that’s what you do. She never wanted attention; also not at family celebrations. But within the family, she was certainly not silent. She was calm and thoughtful. But she also had the most wonderful laugh.

3. Unknown:

   Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you get all wet.

4. Emily Jackson:

   Things happen. It’s a wedding day, something is bound to go not as planned. And so, the group got a big old laugh out of it and we were really thankful that nobody got hurt, there wasn’t any damage. And then we just kind of moved on with celebrating.

5. Buddha:

   When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=laugh
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Laugh
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=laugh
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laugh
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laugh
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=laugh
8. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=laugh
9. ^ The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1989/pg1989-images.html#:~:text=laugh