Link Centre Dictionary

giggle

UK/ˈɡɪɡl̩/ US/ˈɡɪɡʌl/ fairly common informal
verb (1) noun (1)

verb

1.

laugh nervously

  • “The girls giggled when the rock star came into the classroom”
Synonyms

noun

1.

Origin

Early 16th century, probably of imitative origin. Or, perhaps a frequentative based on dialectal English gig (“to creak”), from Middle English gigen (“to make a creaking sound”) + -le; or perhaps of Dutch or Low German origin: compare Saterland Frisian güüchelje (“to giggle”), West Frisian giechelje (“to giggle”), Dutch giechelen (“to giggle”), German Low German giecheln (“to giggle”), dialectal German giggln, gigglen (“to giggle”), German gickeln (“to giggle”). All of these words are likely onomatopoeic as well. Also compare Alemannic German Guege (“fiddle”).

Phrases

  • church giggle
  • giggle academy
  • giggle berries
  • giggle bin
  • giggle box
  • giggle dust
  • giggle factory
  • giggle gas

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.