laugh Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the sound of laughing
    laughter.
  2. noun a facial expression characteristic of a person laughing
    • his face wrinkled in a silent laugh of derision
  3. noun a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter
    gag; joke; jest; jape.
    • he told a very funny joke
    • he knows a million gags
    • thanks for the laugh
    • he laughed unpleasantly at his own jest
    • even a schoolboy's jape is supposed to have some ascertainable point
  4. verb produce laughter
    express joy; express mirth.

WordNet

Laugh intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. laughen, laghen, lauhen, AS. hlehhan, hlihhan, hlyhhan, hliehhan; akin to OS. hlahan, D. & G.lachen, OHG. hlahhan, lahhan, lahhn, Icel. hlæja. Dan. lee, Sw. le, Goth. hlahjan; perh. of imitative origin.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Laughed ; present participle & verbal noun Laughing
Definitions
  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. Shak.
    He laugheth that winneth. Heywood's Prov.
  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. Dryden.
    In Folly's cup still laughs the bubble Joy. Pope.
    No wit to flatter left of all his store, No fool to laugh at, which he valued more. Pope.
    --
Laugh transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To affect or influence by means of laughter or ridicule.
    Will you laugh me asleep, for I am very heavy? Shak.
    I shall laugh myself to death. Shak.
  2. To express by, or utter with, laughter; -- with out.
    From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause. Shak.
Laugh noun
Definitions
  1. 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. Goldsmith.
    That man is a bad man who has not within him the power of a hearty laugh. F. W. Robertson.

Webster 1913