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Synonyms

belly laugh

American  

noun

  1. a deep, loud, hearty laugh.


belly laugh British  

noun

  1. a loud deep hearty laugh

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of belly laugh

First recorded in 1920–25

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.

See Examples For:

His older sister, Averie, was a protector who “beat up everybody for me from age 3 to like 15,” Domingo says, letting out an extended belly laugh.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 10, 2026

Reportedly, she was asked to sing her hit “Firework,” which, considering her proximity to some of the most combustible substances in existence, might have tested God’s urge for a belly laugh.

From Salon Apr. 17, 2025

The Legion, of course, riffs off of DC Comics’ Legion of Doom, complete with the Riddler and Gorilla Grodd wearing the famed dictator’s moustache, a scene more than worth a belly laugh.

From Washington Times Apr. 5, 2023

But once my 7-year-old lets out a belly laugh, the laughter floodgates are opened and her two sisters double over as well.

From Washington Post Jan. 15, 2023

From somewhere down the corridor there came a loud belly laugh, and a loud voice called out, “Listen to the man talk.”

From "Sounder" by William H. Armstrong

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