1825–35; imitative; see ha-ha 1
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But their neighbors, the Bailey family, have spent the cold-war years lining their nests and crying haw-haw at C.D., except for daughter Lenore, who is devoted both to Chuck Conner and radiochemistry.
From Time Magazine Archive
He opened his mouth and emitted a soundless "haw-haw."
From The Stolen Singer by Bellinger, Martha Idell Fletcher
I'm a Guardsman, and my manner is perhaps a bit "haw-haw;" But when you're in the Guards you've got to show esprit de corps.
From Mr Punch's Model Music Hall Songs and Dramas Collected, Improved and Re-arranged from Punch by Anstey, F.
I had all I could do to choke back a haw-haw.
From The House of Torchy by Brown, Arthur William
Whenever anybody mentioned Daddy's name, Mr. Crow would haw-haw loudly and mutter something about "old Spindley Legs!"
From The Tale of Daddy Longlegs Tuck-Me-In Tales by Smith, Harry L.
The last person to be convicted under the separate and more serious Treason Act of 1351 was William Joyce, a World War II Nazi propaganda broadcaster known as Lord Haw-Haw.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2022
West’s account of the trial of William Joyce, better known as Lord Haw-Haw, the British fascist and Nazi propagandist who was executed in 1946 for treason, is an odd read.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 2, 2017
Game changing news in the Fifa corruption war, as Qatar unveils its Lord Haw-Haw.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 4, 2014
Momentarily overshadowed by the doom-clappers were the day-to-day, irritating small fry, Lords Haw-Haw and Hee-Haw, Lady Hee-Hee, Schmidt & Smith, Fritz & Fred.
From Time Magazine Archive
Now their eyes grew somewhat accustomed to the dark and Haw-Haw could make out, vaguely, the posts of the stalls to his right.
From The Night Horseman by Brand, Max
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.
