Link Centre Dictionary

laughter

laugh·ter

UK/ˈlɑːftə/ US/ˈlæftɚ/ common

noun

1.

the sound of laughing

Synonyms
2.

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

  • “he enjoyed the laughter of the crowd”

Origin

From Middle English laughter, laghter, laȝter, from Old English hleahtor (“laughter, jubilation, derision”), from Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz (“laughter”), from Proto-Indo-European *klek-, *kleg- (“to shout”). Cognate with German Gelächter (“laughter, hilarity, merriment”), Danish and Norwegian latter (“laughter”), Icelandic hlátur (“laughter”). More at laugh.

Phrases

  • canned laughter
  • dying laughter
  • dying of laughter
  • evil laughter
  • Homeric laughter
  • laughter is the best medicine
  • laughter lines
  • laughter padding

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower 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.