laugh
Americanverb (used without object)
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laughs,
present (3rd person singular)
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laughed,
past participle, past
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laughing
present participle
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to express mirth, pleasure, derision, or nervousness with an audible, vocal expulsion of air from the lungs that can range from a loud burst of sound to a series of quiet chuckles and is usually accompanied by characteristic facial and bodily movements.
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to experience the emotion so expressed.
He laughed inwardly at the scene.
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to produce a sound resembling human laughter.
A coyote laughed in the dark.
verb (used with object)
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laughs,
present (3rd person singular)
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laughed,
past participle, past
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laughing
present participle
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to drive, put, bring, etc., by or with laughter (often followed by out, away, down, etc.).
They laughed him out of town. We laughed away our troubles.
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to utter with laughter.
He laughed his consent.
noun
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laughs
plural
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the act or sound of laughing; laughter.
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an expression of mirth, derision, etc., by laughing.
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Informal. something that provokes laughter, amusement, or ridicule.
After all the advance publicity, the prizefight turned out to be a laugh.
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Informal. laughs, fun; amusement.
verb phrase
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laugh at
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to make fun of; deride; ridicule.
They were laughing at him, not along with him.
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to be scornful of; reject.
They stopped laughing at the unusual theory when it was found to be predictive.
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to find sympathetic amusement in; regard with humor.
We can learn to laugh a little at even our most serious foibles.
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laugh off to dismiss as ridiculous, trivial, or hollow.
He had received threats but laughed them off as the work of a crank.
idioms
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have the last laugh, to prove ultimately successful after a seeming defeat or loss.
She smiled slyly, because she knew she would yet have the last laugh on them.
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laugh up one's sleeve. sleeve.
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laugh it up, to laugh or joke in a hearty way.
He was laughing it up with his friends.
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laugh out of the other side of one's mouth, to undergo a chastening reversal, as of glee or satisfaction that is premature; be ultimately chagrined, punished, etc.; cry: Also laugh on the wrong side of one's mouthface.
She's proud of her promotion, but she'll laugh out of the other side of her mouth when the work piles up.
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laugh out of court, to dismiss or depreciate by means of ridicule; totally scorn.
His violent protests were laughed out of court by the others.
verb
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(intr) to express or manifest emotion, esp mirth or amusement, typically by expelling air from the lungs in short bursts to produce an inarticulate voiced noise, with the mouth open
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(intr) (esp of certain mammals or birds) to make a noise resembling a laugh
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(tr) to utter or express with laughter
he laughed his derision at the play
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(tr) to bring or force (someone, esp oneself) into a certain condition by laughter
he laughed himself sick
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to make fun (of); jeer (at)
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to read or discuss something with laughter
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informal I don't believe you for a moment
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informal to be unashamedly pleased at making a lot of money
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to show open contempt or defiance towards a person
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informal to laugh loudly and coarsely
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to laugh or have grounds for amusement, self-satisfaction, etc, secretly
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to show sudden disappointment or shame after appearing cheerful or confident
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informal to be in a favourable situation
noun
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the act or an instance of laughing
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a manner of laughter
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informal a person or thing that causes laughter
that holiday was a laugh
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the final success in an argument, situation, etc, after previous defeat
Synonym Usage
Laugh, chuckle, grin, smile refer to methods of expressing mirth, appreciation of humor, etc. A laugh may be a sudden, voiceless exhalation, but is usually an audible sound, either soft or loud: a hearty laugh. Chuckle suggests a barely audible series of sounds expressing private amusement or satisfaction: a delighted chuckle. A smile is a (usually pleasant) lighting up of the face and an upward curving of the corners of the lips (which may or may not be open); it may express amusement or mere recognition, friendliness, etc.: a courteous smile. A grin, in which the teeth are usually visible, is like an exaggerated smile, less controlled in expressing the feelings: a friendly grin.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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laughsimple
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laughssimple
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have laughedperfect
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has laughedperfect
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am laughingprogressive
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are laughingprogressive
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is laughingprogressive
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have been laughingperfect progressive
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has been laughingperfect progressive
Past
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laughedsimple
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had laughedperfect
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was laughingprogressive
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were laughingprogressive
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had been laughingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of laugh
First recorded before 900; Middle English laughen, Old English hlæh(h)an (Anglian); cognate with Dutch, German lachen, Old Norse hlǣja, Gothic hlahjan
Explanation
To let out a chuckle or giggle is to laugh: people laugh when something is funny. To chortle, cackle, guffaw, or titter is to laugh. The job of a comedian is to make people laugh. Often people laugh at things that aren't supposed to be funny, and people also laugh to be polite. If something is silly, you can say "That's a laugh!" If you had fun at a party, you can say "Thanks for the laughs." Everybody's laugh sounds a little different. It would be a shame if your laugh sounded like Elmer Fudd.
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:
"Then I had two wild boys," she says with a laugh.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
“These new rules aren’t about giving retail investors more access to private funds,” he said with a dry laugh.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Zara had a "zest for life" and an "infectious laugh and smile", making her family proud "from day one", they said in a tribute.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Recently he spoke about his role in comedy as a two-decade overnight success, being an Iranian American who can make people laugh in trying political times, and finding himself through comedy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
I laugh and cry at the same time.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
"Me and my wife went out on a Sunday at a pub in Durham just a few weeks back, and this guy came up out the blue and asked, 'Are you Ian Chandler?'" he laughs.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Christian Eckerlin laughs modestly when asked if he feels he has contributed to Brighton's success.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
The effect is something like uncanny sketch comedy, dredging laughs from Hansen’s stilted expressions and intense demeanor, regardless of a scene’s emotional gravity.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026
While the trope of young adults living with their parents has been played for laughs for years — the movie “Failure to Launch” came out in 2006 — the consequences are real.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Everybody laughs a little too much at his joke.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
Bronny James laughed at the comment, because he found it funny to have a reporter tell him he’s tied for the third-longest tenure with the Lakers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
“He looked confused. I explained, Smit means smiling, and Machchhar means mosquito. He laughed very hard.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
“I laughed about it because I was like, ‘Well, at least you were there as a parent, sneaking in your kid,’ which is honestly pretty cool,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Star player Pascal Gross laughed and said "no" when BBC Sport asked him if Albion were in the title race.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Hugo laughed and crossed a hand over his chest.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
“Mezcal cups take as much work as the vases,” Herman says, laughing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Zuckerberg was smiling and laughing with the president Tuesday while taking questions from the press.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
If laughing all the way to the winning line is to work again, then it's hard to look beyond James Acaster.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Plus, she was in the marching band — a rifle twirler — which in the South basically means “you’re a jock, you’re a star,” she says, laughing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
What if someone sees her, a Filipino woman, laughing and having fun with the Japanese?
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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.
