verb
noun
-
such a laugh
-
informal something or someone that provokes amusement
-
a fit of prolonged and uncontrollable giggling
-
informal as a joke or prank; not seriously
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of giggle
1500–10; imitative; compare Dutch gigelen, German gickeln. See -le
Explanation
If you laugh with a dainty tee-hee-hee, you giggle. Children giggle a lot. Big strong men are more likely to guffaw or issue a big belly laugh. The word giggle has been around since about the 16th century, and yet, it has no Latin or Greek roots. Most likely the word is an imitation of the silly sound you make when you laugh like this. If you and your friends have hidden a frog on your teacher's desk, when she enters the room and moves towards it, you will probably begin giggling — you know something funny is about to happen and you're a little nervous about it.
Vocabulary lists containing giggle
Instead of "Said": Words for Upbeat Banter
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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"Charlotte's Web": Chapter One
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Giggly Squad podcast hosts Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo are set to bring comic relief to the main stage and chat about their book “How to Giggle: A Guide to Taking Life Less Seriously.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2025
ET, on Disney+, where "The Star Beast," "Wild Blue Yonder" and "The Giggle" are currently streaming.
From Salon • Dec. 25, 2023
District Judge Katherine Polk Failla on Tuesday said songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer could try to prove "substantial similarity" between "Levitating" and their song "Wiggle and Giggle All Night."
From Reuters • Aug. 8, 2023
"We found a poo in a neighbours' garden so then we knew she'd got outside," said Ms Sharmann, who is assistant manager at Just Giggle Soft Play Centre in Cheadle.
From BBC • Nov. 22, 2017
“I only wanted to see the Giggle Girlzies!”
From "A Monster of a Mystery (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #5)" by Franklin W. Dixon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
