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Laugh   /læf/   Listen
verb
Laugh  v. t.  
1.
To affect or influence by means of laughter or ridicule. "Will you laugh me asleep, for I am very heavy?" "I shall laugh myself to death."
2.
To express by, or utter with, laughter; with out. "From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause."
To laugh away.
(a)
To drive away by laughter; as, to laugh away regret.
(b)
To waste in hilarity. "Pompey doth this day laugh away his fortune."
To laugh down.
(a)
To cause to cease or desist by laughter; as, to laugh down a speaker.
(b)
To cause to be given up on account of ridicule; as, to laugh down a reform.
To laugh one out of, to cause one by laughter or ridicule to abandon or give up; as, to laugh one out of a plan or purpose.
To laugh to scorn, to deride; to treat with mockery, contempt, and scorn; to despise.


Laugh  v. i.  (past & past part. laughed; pres. part. laughing)  
1.
To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and eyes, and usually accompanied by the emission of explosive or chuckling sounds from the chest and throat; to indulge in laughter. "Queen Hecuba laughed that her eyes ran o'er." "He laugheth that winneth."
2.
Fig.: To be or appear gay, cheerful, pleasant, mirthful, lively, or brilliant; to sparkle; to sport. "Then laughs the childish year, with flowerets crowned." "In Folly's cup still laughs the bubble Joy."
To laugh at, to make an object of laughter or ridicule; to make fun of; to deride. "No wit to flatter left of all his store, No fool to laugh at, which he valued more."
To laugh in the sleeve, To laugh up one's sleeve, to laugh secretly, or so as not to be observed, especially while apparently preserving a grave or serious demeanor toward the person or persons laughed at.
To laugh out, to laugh in spite of some restraining influence; to laugh aloud.
To laugh out of the other corner of the mouth or To laugh out of the other side of the mouth, to weep or cry; to feel regret, vexation, or disappointment after hilarity or exaltation. (Slang)


noun
Laugh  n.  An expression of mirth peculiar to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter. See Laugh, v. i. "And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind." "That man is a bad man who has not within him the power of a hearty laugh."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Laugh" Quotes from Famous Books



... but I do not seem to understand," said the man, with so much bewilderment in his manner that Sylvia longed to laugh, but managed to pull herself together and to maintain a ...
— The Adventurous Seven - Their Hazardous Undertaking • Bessie Marchant
... a dense crowd of excited men. In the shaded balconies beautiful women were watching; and on the streets there was the constant chatter of gaudily turbaned negresses, and the rollicking guffaws of the darkies, who had nothing to do but laugh and be merry. ...
— The Hallam Succession • Amelia Edith Barr
... lads looked at each other and laughed, and there was immense relief in Robert's laugh. Only now did he admit to himself that he had been terribly alarmed about Tayoga, and he recognized the enormous relief he felt when the Onondaga ...
— The Rulers of the Lakes - A Story of George and Champlain • Joseph A. Altsheler
... and passed him to ride on ahead of the Signal Company. Never before had I so wished my engine to turn more slowly. It seemed a shame that we motor-cyclists should head the retreat of our little column. I could not understand how the men could laugh and joke. It was blasphemous. They ought to be cursing with angry faces,—at the least, to ...
— Adventures of a Despatch Rider • W. H. L. Watson
... faces. They all stopped for a moment in the doorway to allow Father Orin to shake hands with Peter Cartwright. The young preacher had been delayed on his way, and was just now entering the court-house. He did not smile when the priest said something which made the others laugh. His square jaw was grimly set, and his fiery black eyes looked over the heads of the crowd at the tall figure of General Jackson which towered above every one else in the court room, with the exception of the attorney-general. These two great lawyers still stood absorbed in low-toned ...
— Round Anvil Rock - A Romance • Nancy Huston Banks


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