laugh

Etymology

From Middle English laughen, laghen, from (Anglian) Old English hlæhhan, hlehhan, (West Saxon) hliehhan, from Proto-West Germanic *hlahhjan, from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną. cognates Germanic: (with j-present) Scots lauch, Icelandic hlæja, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish le; (without) Low German lachen, Dutch lachen, German lachen. Indo-European: Russian клекота́ть (klekotátʹ), клокота́ть (klokotátʹ), клохта́ть (kloxtátʹ) ‘to cluck, cackle’, Ancient Greek κλώζω (klṓzō), κλώσσω (klṓssō) ‘to cackle, clack’, Welsh cloch ‘bell’, possibly Latin glōcīre ‘to cluck’.

noun

1. An expression of mirth particular to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter.
   And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind. 1803, Oliver Goldsmith, The Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith, M.B.: With an Account of His Life, page 45
   That man is a bad man who has not within him the power of a hearty laugh. 1869, F. W. Robertson, Lectures and Addresses on Literary and Social Topics, page 87
   His deep laughs boomed through the room.
2. Something that provokes mirth or scorn.
   “And this rug,” he says, stomping on an old rag carpet. “How much do you suppose that cost?” ¶ It was my first guess, so I said fifty dollars. ¶ “That’s a laugh,” he said. “I paid two thousand for that rug.” 1921, Ring Lardner, The Big Town: How I and the Mrs. Go to New York to See Life and Get Katie a Husband, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, page 73
   Life's a piece of shit / When you look at it / Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true. 1979, Monty Python, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
   Your new hat's an absolute laugh, dude.
3. (Britain, New Zealand) A fun person.
   2010, The Times, March 14, 2010, Tamzin Outhwaite, the unlikely musical star Outhwaite is a good laugh, yes, she knows how to smile: but deep down, she really is strong and stern.

verb

1. (intransitive) 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.
   There were many laughing children running on the school grounds.
   The roars of laughter which greeted his proclamation were of two qualities; some men laughing because they knew all about cuckoo-clocks, and other men laughing because they had concluded that the eccentric Jake had been victimised by some wise child of civilisation. 1899, Stephen Crane, Twelve O’Clock
   If life seems jolly rotten / There's something you've forgotten / And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing. 1979, Monty Python, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
2. (intransitive, figurative, obsolete) To be or appear cheerful, pleasant, mirthful, lively, or brilliant; to sparkle; to sport.
3. (intransitive, followed by "at") To make an object of laughter or ridicule; to make fun of; to deride; to mock.
   Don't laugh at my new hat, man!
   On the corner is a banker with a motorcar / The little children laugh at him behind his back 1967, The Beatles, Penny Lane
4. (transitive) To affect or influence by means of laughter or ridicule.
5. (transitive) To express by, or utter with, laughter.
   Fairfax addressed her as "my lady," she laughed her musical laugh, and glanced up at a picture of Gerald with eyes full of exultation. 1866, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 8, in Behind a Mask, or A Woman’s Power
   "You refuse to take me seriously," Lute said, when she had laughed her appreciation. "How can I take that Planchette rigmarole seriously?" 1906, Jack London, Moon-Face