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
Why, if this ere rattlesnake could laugh as well as bite, he'd have a good haw-haw over Miss Lina's way of fighting snakes.
From Mabel's Mistake by Stephens, Ann S. (Ann Sophia)
I saw 'em nudgin' each other and stretchin' their necks, and they seems to indulge in a lively debate, which ends in a general haw-haw.
From Torchy and Vee by Ford, Sewell
He opened his mouth and emitted a soundless "haw-haw."
From The Stolen Singer by Bellinger, Martha Idell Fletcher
The Dook looked surprised, but he begun to haw-haw, and he slapped me on the back and said, ‘Good joke, ol’ chap, good joke!’
From Philo Gubb, Correspondence-School Detective by Irvin, Rea
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.
