laugh

laugh
[[t]lɑ͟ːf, læ̱f[/t]]
♦
laughs, laughing, laughed
1) VERB When you laugh, you make a sound with your throat while smiling and show that you are happy or amused. People also sometimes laugh when they feel nervous or are being unfriendly.

He was about to offer an explanation, but she was beginning to laugh...

[V with n] He laughed with pleasure when people said he looked like his dad...

[V at n] The British don't laugh at the same jokes as the French...

[V with quote] `They'll carry me away on a stretcher if I win on Sunday,' laughed Lyle.

N-COUNT
Laugh is also a noun.

Lysenko gave a deep rumbling laugh at his own joke.

2) VERB If people laugh at someone or something, they mock them or make jokes about them.

[V at n] I thought they were laughing at me because I was ugly...

[V at n] She wanted to laugh at the melodramatic way he was acting.

3) PHRASE: PHR with v If you do something for a laugh or for laughs, you do it as a joke or for fun.

They were persuaded onstage for a laugh by their mates...

It's a project she's doing for laughs.

4) PHRASE: V inflects If a person or their comments get a laugh or raise a laugh, they make the people listening to them laugh. [mainly BRIT]

If you can get a laugh by wearing a silly hat, you must have been born a comic...

The joke got a big laugh, which encouraged me to continue.

5) PHRASE: v-link PHR If you describe a situation as a laugh, a good laugh, or a bit of a laugh, you think that it is fun and do not take it too seriously. [mainly BRIT, INFORMAL]

Working there's great. It's quite a good laugh actually...

It was a good laugh there!

6) PHRASE: v-link PHR If you describe someone as a laugh or a good laugh, you like them because they are amusing and fun to be with. [mainly BRIT]

Mickey was a good laugh and great to have in the dressing room.

7) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If you have a good laugh about something, you find it amusing and realize that it is funny, especially when the situation was at first upsetting.

We've both had a good laugh about the accident despite what's happened.

8) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that you have the last laugh, you mean that you become successful at something so that people who criticize or oppose you look foolish.

Des O'Connor is expecting to have the last laugh on his critics by soaring to the top of the Christmas hit parade.

9) CONVENTION (disapproval) Some people reply to other people's comments or opinions by saying `Don't make me laugh' when they disagree with them and think they are foolish or inaccurate. [INFORMAL]

Claire, a poisoner? Don't make me laugh - She was just a lousy cook.

10) CONVENTION If you say `you've got to laugh' or `you have to laugh', you are trying to see the amusing side of a difficult or disappointing situation rather than being sad or angry about it. [INFORMAL]

The bikers have shown enough contempt of the law to ride their machines over police cars. `You've got to laugh at their audacity,' said Mr Starkey.

11) to laugh someone out of court → see court
to laugh in someone's face → see face
to laugh your head off → see head
no laughing matter → see matter
to laugh all the way to something → see way
Phrasal Verbs:

English dictionary. 2008.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?
Synonyms:
, ,


Look at other dictionaries:

  • laugh — [laf, läf] vi. [ME laughen < OE hleahhan, akin to Ger lachen (OHG hlahhan) < IE base * klēg , to cry out, sound > Gr klangē, L clangor] 1. to make the explosive sounds of the voice, and the characteristic movements of the features and… …   English World dictionary

  • Laugh — Laugh, v. t. 1. To affect or influence by means of laughter or ridicule. [1913 Webster] Will you laugh me asleep, for I am very heavy? Shak. [1913 Webster] I shall laugh myself to death. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To express by, or utter with,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Laugh — (l[aum]f), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Laughed} (l[aum]ft); p. pr. & vb. n. {Laughing}.] [OE. laughen, laghen, lauhen, AS. hlehhan, hlihhan, hlyhhan, hliehhan; akin to OS. hlahan, D. & G. lachen, OHG. hlahhan, lahhan, lahh[=e]n, Icel. hl[ae]ja,W Dan.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • laugh — ► VERB 1) make the sounds and movements that express lively amusement and sometimes also derision. 2) (laugh at) make fun of; ridicule. 3) (laugh off) dismiss by (something) treating it light heartedly. 4) (be laughing) informal be in a fortunate …   English terms dictionary

  • laugh — laugh; laugh·able; laugh·able·ness; laugh·ably; laugh·some; laugh·ter·less; laugh·er; laugh·ter; laugh·ing·ly; …   English syllables

  • Laugh — Laugh, n. An expression of mirth peculiar to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter. See {Laugh}, v. i. [1913 Webster] And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind. Goldsmith. [1913 Webster] That man is a bad man who has not… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • laugh — [v] expressing amusement, happiness with sound be in stitches*, break up*, burst*, cachinnate, chortle, chuckle, convulsed*, crack up*, crow, die laughing*, fracture*, giggle, grin, guffaw, howl, roar, roll in the aisles*, scream, shriek, snicker …   New thesaurus

  • laugh-in — «LAF IHN, LAHF », noun. Informal. a funny or merry act, entertainment, or the like: »Player conducted a laugh in on the practice ground, subduing inner feelings about the fate of his father (London Times) …   Useful english dictionary

  • laugh|y — «LAF ee, LAHF », adjective. inclined to laugh …   Useful english dictionary

  • laugh at — index disdain, disparage, flout, humiliate, jape, jeer, mock (deride), pillory …   Law dictionary

  • laugh at — (someone) to ridicule someone. A lot of kids laughed at me because of the way I dressed, but it never bothered me …   New idioms dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”