LAUGHTER

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The activity of laughing; the manifestation of joy or mirth or scorn

Example:

he enjoyed the laughter of the crowd

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("laughter" is a kind of...):

activity (any specific behavior)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The sound of laughing

Synonyms:

laugh; laughter

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("laughter" is a kind of...):

utterance; vocalization (the use of uttered sounds for auditory communication)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "laughter"):

cachinnation (loud convulsive laughter)

cackle (a loud laugh suggestive of a hen's cackle)

chortle; chuckle (a soft partly suppressed laugh)

giggle (a foolish or nervous laugh)

belly laugh; guffaw (a burst of deep loud hearty laughter)

ha-ha; haw-haw; hee-haw; horselaugh (a loud laugh that sounds like a horse neighing)

snicker; snigger; snort (a disrespectful laugh)

titter (a nervous restrained laugh)

Credits

Context examples:

He roared out the catch in a harsh, unmusical voice, and ended with a shout of laughter.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Keep it always with you that laughter who knock at your door and say, 'May I come in?' is not the true laughter.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He listened with a sceptical smile on his gaunt face, and roared with laughter on hearing that the Professor had convinced me.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“That is better,” said she, smiling at our laughter.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Strange to relate, this ludicrous accoutrement was far from moving me to laughter.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The Lion became quite angry at the laughter caused by the Scarecrow's mishap, and giving a loud roar that echoed like thunder, he dashed up the hill.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

However, my speech produced nothing else beside a loud laughter, which all the respect due to his majesty from those about him could not make them contain.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

She answered it with a second laugh, and laughter well became her youth, her roses, her dimples, her bright eyes.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She fell back against the wall with shriek after shriek of laughter, while I, horrified at this sudden hysterical attack, rushed to the bell to summon help.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And there was Silver, sitting back almost out of the firelight, but eating heartily, prompt to spring forward when anything was wanted, even joining quietly in our laughter—the same bland, polite, obsequious seaman of the voyage out.