chuckle

[chuhk-uh l]

See more synonyms for chuckle on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), chuck·led, chuck·ling.

to laugh softly or amusedly, usually with satisfaction: They chuckled at the child's efforts to walk.
to laugh to oneself: to chuckle while reading.
Obsolete. to cluck, as a fowl.

noun

a soft laugh, usually of satisfaction.
Obsolete. the cluck of a hen.

Origin of chuckle

First recorded in 1590–1600; chuck³ + -le

Related formschuck·ler, nounchuck·ling·ly, adverb

Synonyms for chuckle

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

4. See laugh.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for chuckled

snicker, smile, chortle, laugh, cackle, guffaw, crow, snigger, titter, exult, hee-haw, sniggle

Examples from the Web for chuckled

Contemporary Examples of chuckled

I admit, I chuckled when I read the phrase “boomtown effects” in the New York report.
New York’s Conservative Fracking Ban
Jay Michaelson
December 20, 2014
Rich, the married father of two young boys, chuckled accommodatingly.
‘Outnumbered’: The Making of a Fox News Hit
Lloyd Grove
October 13, 2014
And so the 20 or so people, sitting alone at the Empire 25 in Times Square, chuckled quietly.
Glenn Beck’s Anti-Common Core Kumbaya Moment
David Freedlander
July 23, 2014
Vallée chuckled, responding, “Never,” and asking whether there were even any trans actors.
Laverne Cox, Emmy Trailblazer
Parker Molloy
July 10, 2014
As I moved past the T-shirts, two guys walking past me looked back, and one chuckled.
Preparing for War in Indianapolis: Inside the NRA Plot to Terrify America
Cliff Schecter
April 28, 2014

Historical Examples of chuckled

He chuckled as he added: "That Turner woman saved you the trouble with one."
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Burke chuckled, as the young man took the paper, wonderingly.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
And he chuckled and rubbed his lean hands together as I had so often seen him do.
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark
The Old Man chuckled to himself and went back to his welding.
Chip, of the Flying U
B. M. Bower
"It wad hit the pair of 'em," McNab chuckled, and with that word the Devil conquered.
Quaint Courtships
Various

British Dictionary definitions for chuckled

chuckle

verb (intr)

to laugh softly or to oneself
(of animals, esp hens) to make a clucking sound

noun

a partly suppressed laugh

Derived Formschuckler, nounchucklingly, adverb

Word Origin for chuckle

C16: probably from chuck ³

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

Word Origin and History for chuckled

chuckle

1590s, frequentative of Middle English chukken "make a clucking noise" (late 14c.), of echoic origin. It originally meant "noisy laughter." Related: Chuckled; chuckling.

chuckle

1754, from chuckle (v.).