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:
“If you wanna pay my rent, you can be any color,” Benedict Bernardez said with a laugh from his food stall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
“It’s kind of meta, isn’t it?” she says with a laugh.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
A shrill chuckle at the top of his throat, it quickly becomes a belly laugh, and he’s got some belly, so it’s a big noise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Meloni is a comedy king, the best part of “Wet Hot American Summer,” while Hargitay earned a laugh with a clip of her early work in “Ghoulies,” a schlocky horror movie about toilet demons.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
Mom and Celia always make each other laugh.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
I ask whether Felton offered any advice to his co-star but he laughs and says absolutely not, pointing out that Grint has already appeared on Broadway.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
When I ask Rosales to tell me about her dream car, she laughs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
"They always claim I'm the best salesman," he laughs.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
The laughs keep coming, especially when a little bot in a soccer jersey whiffs a kick and splats on its back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
I knew one of their laughs right away.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
We turned the tunes on full blast, and neither of us had laughed that hard in years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
The crowd laughed eagerly, but there was an unmistakable existential sting to that punchline.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
"I worried that it would affect my work and my relationships with audiences when they laughed if they knew I was sick," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
We laughed as I recalled Arlene driving us to the partner’s 40th birthday party—the only associates invited.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
The other kids laughed like I’d told some kind of a joke, and I felt my face burn red.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
"She was laughing every day, with everybody," she remembers.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Wiatt isn’t laughing, but he’s nodding and smiling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
"After the second round, at about 3am I was sitting with my team in the locker room and we were laughing at how bad I was playing," Zverev said.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
TV cameras showed her laughing and apparently saying, “What about me?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Betsie and I looked hard into our coffee to keep from laughing.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
