haw-haw

[ haw-haw ]

/ ˈhɔˌhɔ /

Save This Word!

interjection

(used to represent the sound of a loud, boisterous laugh.)

noun

a guffaw.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of haw-haw

1825–35; imitative; see ha-ha¹

Words nearby haw-haw

Hawaiki, Hawalli, Hawes Water, hawfinch, hawg, haw-haw, Hawick, hawk, hawkbill, hawkbit, Hawke

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use haw-haw in a sentence

If I could sum it up in a few choice words, I would, but instead I hem and haw, before stumbling through some rambling rejoinder.
Fear And Self-Loathing In Scandinavia: The Fiction Of Karl Ove Knausgaard|Ted Gioia|May 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They back away and hem and haw and leave it to the lower courts to implement their decisions.
Supreme Court Outlawed Executing Mentally Retarded, But Texas Does It Anyway|David R. Dow|August 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
A chorus of haw haws, showed how delighted his fellow-clowns were with farmer Joe's story.
The World Before Them|Susanna Moodie
The Irish title of the letter a or haw is alif, as also is the Arabian: the Greek alpha is either alpa or alfa.
Archaic England|Harold Bayley

This seemed a good joke, and they all howled and haw-hawed gleefully.
Wayside Courtships|Hamlin Garland
Why do these—these people at the fort hem and haw and hesitate when they speak about him?
Warrior Gap|Charles King
He looked like an animated drying-post, and the Dutch boy, in spite of his troubles, began to haw-haw wildly.
Motor Matt's Mystery|Stanley R. Matthews

British Dictionary definitions for haw-haw (1 of 3)

haw-haw¹

/ (ˈhɔːˈhɔː) /

interjection

a variant of ha-ha 1

British Dictionary definitions for haw-haw (2 of 3)

haw-haw²

/ (ˈhɔːhɔː) /

noun

a variant of ha-ha 2

British Dictionary definitions for haw-haw (3 of 3)

Haw-Haw

/ (ˈhɔːˌhɔː) /

noun

Lord Haw-Haw See Joyce

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