▪ I. laugh, n.
(lɑːf, læf)
Also 9 Sc. lauch.
[f. next vb. Cf. MHG., mod.G. lache, Du. lach.]
1. The action of laughing; laughing, or an inclination to laugh; laughter. rare.
| 1690 Crowne Eng. Frier v. 45 Oh, I'me full of laugh, and must give it some vent. 1694 Congreve Double Dealer iii. ix. 37 You are never pleased but when we are all upon the broad grin; all laugh and no Company. 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man i, Do you find jest, and I'll find laugh, I promise you. 1891 S. J. Duncan Amer. Girl in Lond. 191 Mr. Pratte had very blue eyes with a great deal of laugh in them. |
2. An instance of laughing; (a person's) characteristic manner of laughing.
| 1713 Steele Guardian No. 29 ¶1 The laugh of men of wit is for the most part but a faint constrained kind of half-laugh. a 1732 Gay Fables ii. i. 36 So monstrous like the portrait's found, All know it, and the laugh goes round. 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. i. 33 The heart's light laugh pursued the circling jest. 1796 Jane Austen Sense & Sens. (1849) 227 Elinor could have forgiven everything but her laugh. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 175 His licht-blue cunnin een, and that bashfu' lovin lauch. 1838 Thirlwall Greece IV. 215 That the people could be expected to join in the laugh raised at the expense of the demagogues. 1848 Thackeray Let. 4 Oct. in Scribner's Mag. I. 399/1, I laughed a sad laugh. 1857 Spurgeon New Park St. Pulpit II. 131 It is a figment and a fiction, a laugh and a dream. |
| fig. 1841 L. Hunt Seer (1864) 4 When she stooped..over the tinder-box on a cold morning, and rejoiced to see the first laugh of the fire. 1894 W. Watson To R. H. Hutton Odes, etc. 2, I have seen the morn one laugh of gold. |
3. In phr. to have the laugh at or of, to raise the laugh against (a person), to have or get the laugh on one's side. on the laugh: laughing. to have the last laugh (and similar phrs.): to be successful in the end. to have, or get, the laugh on, or over (someone): to have (someone) at a disadvantage; so the laugh is on (someone).
| c 1712 Swift Hints Ess. Convers. Wks. 1765 XIII. 257 Singling out a weak adversary, getting the laugh on his side, and then carrying all before him. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. vii, This effectually raised the laugh against poor Moses. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 17 May, He..found no great difficulty in turning the laugh upon the aggressor. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest v, You've beat us..and have the laugh on your side now. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair vi, ‘Of course you did’, cried Osborne, still on the laugh. 1865 Kingsley Herew. ii. 65 If I have had my laugh at them, they have had theirs at me. 1881 E. E. Frewer Holub's 7 Years S. Afr. II. iv. 80 Meriko had the laugh of me. 1909 J. London Let. 1 July (1966) 280 The laugh is on me. I confess to having been fooled by Mr. Harris's canard. 1925 Times 21 Mar. 12/4 The Last Laugh, the German film which was shown at the Capitol in the Haymarket for the first time on Thursday, is another example of the new school of film production, the basis of which is the recognition of imagination in the spectator. 1937 G. & I. Gershwin (song) They All Laughed 4 They laughed at us and how! But Ho, Ho, Ho! Who's got the last laugh now? 1942 E. Paul Narrow St. v. 40 Guy was hauled up, put on the carpet, and when he learned that the uncle was willing to make a rather generous cash settlement considered that he had the last laugh on his fellow workers. 1944 G. B. Shaw Everybody's Pol. What's What? xxx. 259 The laugh was on the mob, not on Fouquier. 1949 W. S. Maugham Writer's Notebook 329 Sometimes we die sitting quietly in an armchair over a whisky and soda... Then, I suppose, we have the laugh over those who..never rested till the end. 1954 A. Marx Groucho xxiii. 200 If she happened to make an error..he would say, ‘Well, who's got the last laaaaff now?’ 1966 ‘J. Hackston’ Father clears Out 18 She's got the laugh on me this time, all right. 1968 D. Godfrey in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories 2nd ser. 306 The Yankee came back about the end of August and we had to give him the last laugh. 1975 J. Aiken Voices in Empty House iv. 121 The dead really have the last laugh on the living. |
4. a. = laughing-stock. rare.
| 1817 Byron Beppo xcviii, He oft became the laugh of them. |
b. A cause of laughter; a joke. Freq. ironic, as in phr. that's a laugh, etc.
| 1895 G. B. Shaw Our Theatres in Nineties (1932) I. 51 The piece contained three or four ‘laughs’ which could not possibly have been explained or described at a dinner party. 1921 Motion Picture Mag. Oct. 21/2 There is unlimited room for the screen comedy of manners and for comedy that depends for its laughs upon the sheer power of clever situations. 1930 W. R. Burnett Iron Man i. 3 Ain't that a laugh!.. That guy's been sleeping for the last half-hour, and he says we're a lot of company. 1960 J. Wain Nuncle 165 ‘Your friends paid for it.’ That was a laugh. My friends..were a one-way valve for drinks, cigarettes and loans. 1961 A. Wilson Old Men at Zoo i. 51 That's a laugh. When Leacock was head of the Aquarium, he did absolutely nothing. 1966 ‘H. Calvin’ Italian Gadget ix. 149 Embellished or not, the story would be taken as a wild laugh. 1972 D. Devine Three Green Bottles iii. i. 106 She fell for Dr Kendall and he chucked her too. It's a laugh when you think of it. |
5. attrib. and Comb., as laugh-maker, laugh-shriek; † laugh-dove = laugher 2; laugh-line, (a) in theatrical use, a comic line received with laughter; (b) = laughter-line (see laughter 3); laugh track, a recording of audience laughter added to a sound track.
| 1755 Man No. 6 ¶1 The cry of the laugh-dove. |
| 1927 M. Sullivan Our Times II. 106 ‘Uncle Herbert's Speaker’ gave text and minute directions for what modern comedians would call ‘putting over the {oqq}laugh line{cqq}’. 1960 20th Cent. Nov. 470 The humour does not consist of laugh lines, but of moods and contrasts. 1967 ‘T. Wells’ Dead by Light of Moon (1968) vi. 60 Bright green eyes and laugh lines around the mouth. 1969 W. Garner Us or Them War i. 19 ‘It scared the living daylights out of me. Except it was dark,’ he finished, but nobody played up to the laugh line. 1971 P. O'Donnell Impossible Virgin xii. 252 The little laugh-lines at the corners of her eyes..had gone. |
| 1834 H. Caunter in Oriental Ann. xiv. 187 The shrill laugh-shriek of the jackal. 1850 H. Martineau Hist. Peace II. 602 The great laugh-maker, Liston. |
| 1962 Variety 22 Aug. 14 Universal is on the laugh-track for extended play. And the logic is unarguable, as witness the current ‘Lover Come Back’. 1966 N.Y. Times 20 Nov. 19 Perhaps symptomatic of the quiet corrosion around ‘The Jean Arthur Show’ is the ‘laugh track’ or ‘canned laughter’ on the show. 1969 Punch 5 Feb. 193/3 The absence of a laugh track which would only foul up the pace. 1970 Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 30/3 (caption) Program's tired laugh-track..and tired non-plot. |
Add: [3.] to raise a laugh: see raise v.1 14 d. good for a laugh, guaranteed to amuse or entertain.
| 1963 New Statesman 18 Oct. 537/1 The police..accuse the public of a lack of civic responsibility—a phrase that's good for a laugh over a bevy. 1965 Telegraph (Brisbane) 30 Apr. 37 His ways often seem strange—‘good for a laugh’. 1976 New Yorker 17 May 35/1 A pair of Bass Weejuns is always good for a laugh. 1987 Newsweek 18 May 51 It's good for a few laughs. |
[4.] c. (A source of) entertainment or amusement; a lark; esp. in phrs. for a laugh or for laughs, just for fun, for the hell of it. Sometimes used iron. See also barrel of fun (laughs, etc.) s.v. *barrel n. 2 b.
| 1936 Wodehouse Laughing Gas x. 107 Anything for a laugh is your motto. Well, good night, old cut-up. 1945 H. Brown Artie Greengroin 182 Some day that mess sergeant is going to fill the Spam full of arsenic and knock off the whole company for a laugh. 1957 F. Hoyle Black Cloud xi. 218 Graft everywhere, executions just for the laughs. a 1961 Newsweek in Webster s.v., Girl mobsters beating up other girls simply for laughs. 1970 J. Didion Play it as it Lays vii. 35 You're a lot of laughs this afternoon, Maria. 1986 Times 27 Jan. 9/7 Going out to work isn't a load of laughs. 1992 New Yorker 20 Jan. 8/2 The first one we caught was Iron Prostate, who play hardcore for laughs, including songs such as ‘Bring Me the Head of Jerry Garcia’, and one about ‘Gilligan's Island’. |
[5.] laugh meter (also laugh-o-meter), a device for monitoring the volume of an audience's laughter.
| 1960 Spectator 28 Oct. 655/3 Carefully concocted from our favourite ingredients by managers whose henchmen have sat through countless performances..with stop-watches and *laugh-meters. 1985 Chicago Tribune 18 Sept. c7 The giant Laugh-O-Meter, high in the tower in The Tribune's state-of-the-art sitcom-testing laboratory, rates ‘Stir Crazy’..as ‘funny’. 1977 Washington Post 1 May l2/1 ‘Right now it's so subtle I'm afraid it won't register,’ he told his actor. ‘It's about 2.8 on the laugh meter.’ 1992 Gazette (Montreal) 11 June b11/3 Her latest movie, Sister Act, may not earn her an Oscar, like her role in Ghost, but it will earn her a high spot on the laugh-o-meter. |
▪ II. laugh, v.
(lɑːf, læf)
Forms: 1 hlehhan, hli(e)h(h)an, hlæh(h)an, Northumb. hlæhha, 2–4 leiȝen, 3 leh-, lihȝen, lahe(n, lauhwen, Orm. lahȝhenn, 4 leȝe(n, leyghe, -ȝ(h)e, l(h)eȝȝe, leeȝe, leyȝe, lyhe, lyȝhe, liȝe, laȝ(h)e(n, lauȝe, lawȝhe(n, lay(g)hyn, Sc. laucht, 4–5 lagh(e, laȝe, lauȝw(h)e, lawȝ(e, laȝwe, loȝe, 4–6 laughen, lawghen, law(g)whe, lawȝh(e, (5 leyȝh, lawhyn), 5–6 lawe, laȝe, lahe, Sc. lach, 6 laffe, loffe, 5–9 Sc. lauch, lawch, 5– laugh. pa. tense 1 hlôᵹ, hlôh, 4–5 logh(e, lough(e, lowh(e, 4 loȝe, louȝ(h), louh, lou, lohu, loowȝ, lowȝ(e, looȝ, loowe, 5 lowgh, louȝe, Sc. lugh(e, 5–6 Sc. leughe, leuȝe, 6 lawgh, lewgh, low, Sc. leuche, lewch, luiche, 6– Sc. leuch, leugh. weak forms: 4 leiȝede, -ide, laȝed, laughede, loght, Sc. laucht, lucht, 5 leyghed, lauȝed, louched, Sc. lauchit, 6 lawght, lought, 5– laughed. pa. pple. 4 laughen, lawhen, 6 Sc. lachin, 5– laughed.
[A Com. Teut. str. vb., but in the later periods of most of the langs. conjugated wholly or partially weak. OE. hlęhhan, hliehhan, Anglian hlæhhan, pa. tense hlóᵹ, hlóh, pl. hlóᵹon, pa. pple. *hlaᵹen, *hlæᵹen, corresponds to OFris. hlacka, pa. tense hlackade, OS. *hlahan, pa. tense pl. hlôgun, pa. pple. hlagan (MDu. lagchen, lachen, pa. tense loeg, pa. pple. gelaghen, mod.Du. lachen, pa. tense lachte, pa. pple. gelachen), OHG. hlahhen, pa. tense hlôch, also hlahhên, pa. tense hlahhêta (MHG., mod.G. lachen, pa. tense lachte, pa. pple. gelacht), ON. hlǽja, pa. tense hló, pl. hlógu, pa. pple. hlegenn (Sw. le, pa. tense log, Da. le, pa. tense lo), Goth. hlahjan, pa. tense hlôh (whence causative ufhlôjan); the Teut. root *hlah- (:*hlôh-: *hlag-) represents a pre-Teut. *klak-, prob. echoic; cf. *klōk- in Gr. κλώσσειν to cluck. The OTeut. type has a -jo-suffix in the present-stem, but not in the pa. tense or pa. pple. The mod.Eng. form descends from the Anglian hlæhhan.]
1. a. intr. To manifest the combination of bodily phenomena (spasmodic utterance of inarticulate sounds, facial distortion, shaking of the sides, etc.) which forms the instinctive expression of mirth or of sense of something ludicrous, and which can also be occasioned by certain physical sensations, esp. that produced by tickling. Also transf. to have the emotion (of mirth, amusement, scorn) which is expressed by laughing.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xxvii. 187 Wa eow ðe nu hliehað, forðam ᵹe sculon eft wepan. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xviii. 15 Þa ætsoc Sarra: Ne hloh ic na..God cwæð þa..ac þu hloᵹe. c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 127 Þat mann is swa blind ðat he farð to helle leiȝinde. c 1200 Ormin 5663 He wepeþþ ec forr alle þa þatt lahȝhenn her wiþþ sinne. a 1225 Ancr. R. 230 And þeonne mid ispredde ermes leapeð lauhwinde uorð. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2233 Þe king bigan somdel to lyhe, þo he hurde þis. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 477 Þis oþere loȝen and hadde gleo. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 653 Þenne þe burde byhynde þe dor for busmar laȝed. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 1582 Sche com wiþ adrink of main and louȝ. 1340 Ayenb. 93 Ne þet ne is naȝt lyf of man, ac of child þet nou wepþ nou lheȝþ. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Petrus) 240 Ymagis..of brass and stane, Þat semyt to laucht all elane. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 93 Ryght so mowe ye oute of myn hert bringe Swich vois, ryght as yow lyst, to laughe or pleyn. c 1425 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 404 Pan gan to carpe of hys lewde bagpype, whyche caused the company to lawe. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxiv. 90 So we loghe and maide good chere. c 1470 Golagros & Gaw. 1065 The lordis on the tothir side for liking thay leugh. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxxii. (Arb.) 92 Ye lawhyd for ye were wel plesyd. 1555 Eden Decades 26 They sawe the Lieuetenaunte laugh. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 55 Then the whole quire hold their hips, and loffe. a 1657 Sir W. Mure Misc. Poems ii. 88 Lauching to sie my trickling teirs doune go. 1676 Hobbes Iliad i. 561 And then the Gods laught all at once outright. 1728 Ramsay Anacreontic on Love 32 He leugh and with unsonsy jest, Cry'd, ‘Nibour, I'm right blyth in mind’. 1754 Chatham Lett. Nephew v. 35 It is generally better to smile than laugh out. 1839 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 98 The 'Efreet laughed, and, walking on before him, said, O fisherman, follow me. 1868 G. Macdonald R. Falconer I. 28 He leuch, and speirt gin I wad list, and gae me a shillin. 1890 Hall Caine Bondman i. x, Then she laughed like a bell. |
b. In proverbial and fig. phrases. to laugh in one's sleeve: to laugh to oneself, to nurse inward feelings of amusement. to laugh on the other, wrong side (of one's face, mouth): to change from laughter and exultation to sadness and vexation. don't make me laugh: expostulatory phr. freq. used ironically. to make a cat laugh: see cat n.1 13 j. laugh! I thought I'd die: exclamatory phr. to indicate excessive laughter. to laugh like a drain: see drain n. 1 f. to laugh out of court: see court n.1 12 c.
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 64 If I coveted nowe to avenge the injuries that you have done me, I myght laughe in my slyve. 1562 Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 163 They laugh that win. 1622 May Heir iii. i, Let them laugh That win the prize. 1642 Rogers Naaman 228 Thou..hast fleerd and laught in thy sleeve at the sincere. 1775 Sheridan Rivals ii. i, 'Tis false, sir; I know you are laughing in your sleeve. 1779 Cowper Love of World Reproved 24 You laugh—'tis well—the tale applied May make you laugh on t' other side. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas ii. v. ¶2 We were made to laugh on the other side of our mouths by an unforeseen occurrence. 1837 Carlyle Diamond Necklace iii, in Fraser's Mag. Jan. 7/1 By-and-by thou wilt laugh on the wrong side of thy face mainly. 1853 M. Arnold Empedocles on Etna i. ii, The Gods laugh in their sleeve To watch man doubt and fear. 1889 ‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery Under Arms xxxiii, I'll make some of ye laugh on the wrong side. 1894 A. Chevalier Humorous Songs, Laugh! I thought I should 'ave died, Knock'd 'em in the Old Kent Road! 1898 J. D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 246 'E does a bunk dahn the street, lookin' fer all the world like a hunder-done pancake. Laugh—I thought I should ha' died. Ibid., An' as fer you, my lady, wait till I've got yer, I'll make yer laugh the uvver side o' yer face. 1925 D. H. Lawrence Mornings in Mexico (1927) 21 The monkey..mocks at you and gibes at you and imitates you... It's funny, and you laugh just a bit on the wrong side of your face. 1951 ‘F. O'Connor’ Traveller's Samples 43 ‘Who are ye laughing at?’ I shouted, clenching my fists at them. ‘I'll make ye laugh at the other side of yeer faces if ye don't let me pass.’ 1958 Spectator 22 Aug. 241/3 The fact that a resolute Government (don't make me laugh) could stuff its fingers in its ears and carry on regardless makes no difference; nothing will in fact be done. 1966 Observer 20 Mar. 27/3 The jokes..tended to make one laugh on the other side of one's face. 1967 J. B. Priestley It's an Old Country xiii. 142 ‘Mind you, I'll never believe there was anything between him and Mum―’ ‘Don't make me laugh,’ Vic said, giving Tom a wink. 1975 S. Johnson Urbane Guerilla ii. 70 Stanton will soon laugh on the other side of his face. |
c. Attributed poet. and rhetorically to inanimate objects, chiefly with reference to movement or play of light and colour which is apprehended as the expression of joyous feeling.
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 636 Firy Phebus riseth vp so brighte That al the Orient laugheth of the lighte. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiv. I. (1495) 485 For fayrnesse and grene springynge that is therin it is sayde that meedes laughe. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 161 (Douce MS.) My lere [was] as þe lele, louched one highte. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxv. 13 The valleys stonde so thicke with corne y{supt} they laugh and synge. 1725 Pope Odyss. iii 601 In the dazzling goblet laughs the wine. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 817 The fruitful field Laughs with abundance. 1803–6 Wordsw. Intim. Immort. iv, The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee. 1805 ― Prelude iv. Poems (1888) 261/1 The sea lay laughing at a distance. 1818 Milman Samor 9 The sparkling wine laugh'd up, As eager 'twere to touch so fair a lip. 1852 Hawthorne Grandfather's Chair ii. i. (1879) 75 The wood fire..laughs broadly through the room. 1875 Longfellow Masque of Pandora i, The waters of a brook..Limpid and laughing in the summer's sun! 1894 Baring-Gould Deserts S. France I. 2 This mountain plateau laughs with verdure. |
† d. laugh and lay (or lie) down: an obsolete game at cards.
| 1522 Skelton Why not to Court 928 Now nothynge but pay, pay, With, laughe and lay downe, Borowgh, cyte, and towne. 1591 Florio 2nd Fruites 67 What game doo you plaie at cards? At primero, at trump, at laugh and lie downe. 1594 Lyly Moth. Bomb. (1632) Dd ij, At laugh and lie downe if they play, What asse against the sport can bray? 1634 S. R. Noble Soldier i. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. I. 268 Sorrow becomes me best. A suit of laugh and lye downe would wear better. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Laugh-and-lay-down, a childish game at cards. |
e. to be laughing: to be in a fortunate or successful position (see quot. 1930). colloq.
| 1930 Brophy & Partridge Songs & Slang Brit. Soldier 136 Laughing, comfortable, safe, fortunate, especially in contrast with others or with normal circumstances. E.g. ‘He's got a job at Brigade Head Quarters, so he's laughing’; ‘Once I get to the C.C.S. I'm laughing’. 1968 Listener 19 Dec. 812/3 Oh, Ron, he's got a job— {pstlg}30 a week he can get now, you know. Skilled motor mechanic, and not put-on like it used to be. Runs his own racket as well. Old Ron's laughing. 1975 M. Stanier Singing Time 255 So long as you're a jump ahead you're laughing. |
2. a. quasi-trans. with cognate object. Also, to utter laughingly or with laughter.
| c 1470 K. Estmere 235 in Percy's Reliq., The ladye lough a loud laughter, As shee sate by the king. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 163 The large Achilles..laughs out a loud applause. c 1650 Lad of Learne 215 in Furnivall Percy Folio I. 190 A loud laughter the Ladie lought. 1842 Tennyson Lady Clare, He laugh'd a laugh of merry scorn. 1848 [see laugh n. 2]. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus xxxi. 14 Laugh out whatever laughter at the hearth rings clear. |
b. in pass. (nonce-use).
| 1844 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile Poems 1850 I. 66 For is all laughed in vain? |
3. With dat. of person, and to with n. expressing the effect, as in to laugh to scorn (now arch. and literary), † to laugh to bismer, hething, hoker.
The vb. in these phrases is now apprehended as transitive: cf. sense 6.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 270 Hwon þet ȝe habben herdi bileaue nule ȝe buten lauhwen him lude to bismare. a 1240 Wohunge in Cott. Hom. 283 Ha..lahhen þe to hokere þer þu o rode hengest. a 1300 Cursor M. 15881 (Gött.) Þe feluns logh [v.r. lowȝe] him til hething on ilk side, allas! c 1340 Ibid. 2028 (Trin.) Cam..was vnkynde ynouȝe To scorne he his fadir louȝe. 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxxvii. 184 Alle wolle þei ful ȝare Lauhwhe þe to bisemare. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 1995 The clerkys..louhe to scorne the emperour. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xxi[i]. 7 All they y{supt} se me, laugh me to scorne. 1540 ― Fruitf. Less. i. (1593) P 1 b, The wisest of all is laughed to scorne. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 395, I laughed to scorn the elements—And chiefly those of Learning. 1866 Howells Venet. Life 306 This was too much, and we laughed him to scorn. |
4. With preps. a. With at, † of, † on, over, indicating the cause of laughter. † Also with on, upon (rarely up, to) in the sense: To look pleasantly on, to smile on.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter li[i]. 8 Rehtwise..ofer hine hlæhað. a 1300 Cursor M. 2722 (Gött.) Sare..Herd þis word and lohu [v.rr. loghe, lowȝe] þar-att. c 1300 Havelok 903 The kok stod, and on him low. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1092 Þe world laghes on man and smyles. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 203 For thi loue we as leue bretheren shal and vche man laughe vp other. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 150 Ȝif..þe world leiȝe to him in killynge of his enemyes. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's Prol. 1 Whan folk hadde laughen at this nyce cas. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5060 She..laugheth on him, and makith him feeste. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3253 Thoo Anazaree vpon him lough. c 1500 Three Kings' Sons 37 The quene & fferaunt lough wele at the wordes of hir doughtir. 1535 Coverdale 1 Esdras iv. 31 Yf she laughed vpon him, he laughed also. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 226 Whereat they laugh't a good. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 65 He had the picture of a foole at the entrance,..laughing on an Urinall. 1669 Pepys Diary 7 Jan., A bold, merry slut, who lay laughing there upon people. 1821 Byron Juan iv. iv, If I laugh at any mortal thing, 'Tis that I may not weep. 1880 Mrs. Forrester Roy & V. I. 7 Dreams, indeed, my dear!..I have not forgotten them: I often laugh heartily over them. |
b. to laugh at (rarely † laugh of, † laugh upon): to make fun of, mock at; to deride, ridicule. Also in indirect pass.
| c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 234 He laughethe at my peyne. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ii. xii, Of the euylle of other, men ought not to lawhe ne scorne. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 781 [He] laughed upon him, as though he woulde say, you shall have neede of one sone. 15.. Peebles to Play ix, All that lookit them upon Leugh fast at their array. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 18 b, A lighte and verye weake reason..and even laughed at of the Romanes them selves. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies i. i. 2 In his Commentaries vpon the Epistle to the Hebrewes, he doth laugh at those, which hold the heavens to be round. 1722 De Foe Plague (1840) 12 My Brother..laught at all I had suggested. 1724 ― Mem. Cavalier ii. 202 Our Major was..laughed at by the whole Army. 1786 Burns Ordination iv, How graceless Ham leugh at his Dad. 1802 R. Anderson Cumberld. Ball. 25 Far maist I leugh at Grizzy Brown. 1807–8 Irving Salmag. (1824) 97 Giving parties to people who laugh at them. 1866 Reader No. 169. 295/2 Laughed at by mere litterarians. 1880 L. Stephen Pope iv. 89 Though Pope laughed at the advice, we might fancy that he took it to heart. |
† 5. trans. To laugh or mock at, deride. Obs.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. ix. 24 ᵹehloᵹun hine. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 482 Ða apostoli hloᵹon ðæra deofla leasunga. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Jan. 66 She..laughes the songes, that Colin Clout doth make. |
6. With obj. and compl. or advb. phr.: To produce a specified effect upon (a person) by laughing.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 305 Men laughe hem selve to deaþ. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. ii. 123 Angels..who with our spleenes, Would all themselves laugh mortal. 1610 ― Temp. ii. i. 188 Will you laugh me asleepe, for I am very heauy. Ibid. ii. 159, I shall laugh my selfe to death at this puppi-headed Monster. 1647 Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. 296 [2 Thess. iii. 11] Whose whole life is to eat, and drink..and laugh themselves fat. 1668 Chas. II in Julia Cartwright Henrietta of Orleans (1894) 264 James did maintaine for some time that she was not painted, but he was quickly laffed out of it. 1679 J. Goodman Penitent Pardoned ii. ii. (1713) 196 The company..laughed the cunning man out of countenance. c 1712 Swift Hints Ess. Convers. Wks. 1765 XIII. 262 Love, honour, friendship, generosity,..under the name of fopperies, have been for some time laughed out of doors. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. iii. §15 These authors laugh men out of their religion, as Horace did out of their vices. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 321 Whom [has it] laughed into reform? 1827 Hare Guesses (1859) 248 Is there anybody living..who has not often been laught out of what he ought to have done, and laught into what he ought not to have done. 1863 Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. x. 268 A fellow who will joke and laugh the money out of your pocket. 1890 ‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 102 Sure ye'd be laughed out of any hunting-field in Britain if ye took one of them things there. |
7. With adverbs. to laugh away: † (a) to let go with a laugh; (b) to dismiss or get rid of with a laugh; (c) to while away (time) with laughter. to laugh down: to subdue or silence with laughter. to laugh off, laugh out = to laugh away (b). to laugh that off: phrase used ironically (freq. in imperative) as an invitation to dismiss or get rid of (some accomplished fact) with a laugh. to laugh over: to recall or repeat with laughter or mirth. to laugh (someone) out of it: to persuade (someone) out of a depressed or serious, etc., mood with laughter.
| 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 704 Yet would he laugh it out..And tell them that they greatly him mistooke. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 256 Let us..laugh this sport ore by a Countrie fire. 1604 ― Oth. iv. i. 113 Now he denies it faintly: and laughes it out. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. ii. vi. 109 Pompey doth this day laugh away his Fortune. 1715 Vanbrugh Country Ho. i. i, They all got drunk and lay in the Barn, and next Morning laugh'd it off for a Frolick. 1780 Cowper Table T. 239 And laughs the sense of misery far away. 1781 ― Retirement 452 He..talks and laughs away his vacant hours. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xiii, Vivaldi tried to laugh away her apprehension. 1806 T. S. Surr Winter in Lond. III. 221 Though burning with envy..her grace attempted to laugh out the scene. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas xii. i. ¶8 Instead of laughing it off, I was fool enough to be angry. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. iv. i. 10, I strove To laugh the thought away. 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 89 Baby lips will laugh me down. 1855 ― Maud i. xix. 60 Whenever she touch'd on me This brother had laugh'd her down. 1880 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Rebel of Fam. ii, Clarissa..laughed off the proposal as a joke. 1918 F. B. Young Crescent Moon v. 96 Eva tried to laugh him out of it, to make him ashamed of being afraid. 1926 Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Dict. 11/1 Laugh that off, controversial triumph. 1936 ‘N. Blake’ Thou Shell of Death xii. 224 Why should he want them [sc. footprints] preserved if it wasn't he who originally made them?.. Laugh that one off! 1944 L. MacNeice Christopher Columbus i. 57 They have given me all that I asked—Let Talavera laugh that off if he can. 1974 Times 15 Jan. 14/6, I claim to have a complete answer to the charge, so laugh that off, Sir Peter. |
Add: [1.] [b.] he laughs best (or longest) who laughs last and varr. (cf. to have the last laugh s.v. laugh n. 3).
| c 1608 Christmas Prince (1923) 109 Hee laugheth best that laugheth to the end. 1823 Scott Peveril IV. iii. 49 Your Grace knows the French proverb, ‘He laughs best who laughs last’. 1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 39 He laughs longest who laughs last; Nay, Leonardo only bungled the pure Etruscan smile. 1984 W. Rushton W. G. Grace's Last Case xviii. 233 ‘I dare, sir’, I said, ‘I dare’. I have the courage of my convictions—and he who laughs longest laughs last! 1994 Spy (N.Y.) Aug. 5 He laughs best that laughs last, so we're right now enjoying a good solid thigh-slapper. |
to laugh till one cries: to laugh until tears run down one's face.
| 1838 E. Eden Jrnl. 20 Oct. in Up the Country (1866) I. xxiii. 252 R. was never seen to laugh till he cried before. 1900 Conrad Ld. Jim xiii. 139 He made us laugh till we cried, and..would tiptoe amongst us and say, ‘It's all very well for you beggars to laugh.’ 1954 N. Coward Future Indefinite i. 17 Two of my inquisitors laughed until they cried. 1990 She Aug. 74/1 How many times have you laughed until you cried? That's the release mechanism coming into play. |
[2.] c. To say with a laugh. (Usu. with direct speech as obj.)
| 1843 Dickens Christmas Carol iii. 105 ‘Ha, ha!’ laughed Scrooge's nephew. ‘Ha, ha, ha.’ 1881 J. H. Riddel Senior Partner II. i. 15 ‘What a flatterer ladies must have found you’, laughed Miss Pousnett. 1903 J. London People of Abyss iv. 31 ‘Lor' lumme!’ she laughed. 1945 E. Wilson I am Gazing into my 8-ball xx. 106 ‘That fluff from my office.’ ‘Fluff?’ laughed Miss Lawrence. 1986 J. Barnes Staring at Sun II. 126 ‘Can you lend me a nightdress?’ Rachel laughed that she didn't own one. 1991 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Apr. 146/1 ‘I watch a lot of kitsch television,’ she laughs. |
6. to laugh oneself sick (or silly): to laugh uncontrollably and at length (freq. iron. or fig.).
| 1773 F. Burney Diary 29 Aug. (1889) I. 246 Mrs. Rishton and I laughed ourselves sick. 1921 H. C. Witwer Leather Pushers xii. 325 I'll wager she's laughing herself sick right now. 1933 A. Merritt Burn Witch Burn! (1934) v. 68 They'll laugh themselves sick an' fry us at Sing Sing. 1954 ‘M. Coles’ Not for Export xii. 142 The attempt..to divide Berlin must be one of the silliest efforts in history. Our grandchildren will laugh themselves sick when they read about it. 1986 Philadelphia Inquirer 11 July e11/2 (Advt.), The audience was laughing themselves sick and so was I. 1995 Sugar June 6 (heading) Laugh yourself silly at other readers' awesomely awful slip-ups. |
7. to laugh one's head off: to laugh heartily or uncontrollably, esp. at a person or thing.
| 1974 R. Jeffries Mistakenly in Mallorca v. 44 Laugh your head off, thought Mayans sourly. 1987 New Yorker 26 Jan. 25/3, I don't think he should show up..wearing..a..swimdress... The other kids would laugh their heads off. 1990 Sun 20 Oct. 13/1 When I said I'd started a strict diet the crew cracked up and just couldn't stop laughing their heads off at me. |
▸ to laugh in a person's face: to show open contempt for a person, esp. with scornful mockery or laughter; to deride, ridicule, or scoff at (a person) blatantly.
| [1596 Raigne of Edward III sig. A4, See how occasion laughes me in the face.] 1607 ‘W. S.’ Puritaine iii. sig. F 2, I am of such a laxatiue laughter, that if the Deuill him selfe stood by, I should laugh in his face. 1725M. Davys Lady's Tale in Wks. II. 127 He came forward, and made up to my Mother to salute her, which he did with such an awkard Air, that had not a little good Manners stood close at my Elbow, I had laugh'd in his Face. 1782 Pennsylvania Gaz. (Electronic ed.) 10 Apr. As the French fleet lay just at that time before Fort Royal Bay, the moment he came out, they would retire into the Bay and laugh in his face. 1848 Thackeray Vanity Fair ii. 13 Rebecca laughed in her face, with a horrid sarcastic demoniacal laughter, that almost sent the schoolmistress into fits. 1902 J. Conrad Heart of Darkness iii, I had no particular desire to enlighten them, but I had some difficulty in restraining myself from laughing in their faces so full of stupid importance. 1943 A. Rand Fountainhead ii. iv. 256 She sat there, looking up at him, laughing deliberately in his face, laughing ungraciously and not gaily. 2001 Pride Sept. 61/2 He said, ‘Hey baby, what's your star sign?’ I consider myself a nice person, so I didn't just laugh right there in his face. |
▸ to laugh in the face of: to show open contempt for (something, esp. a known hazard or encumbrance).
| 1691 J. Harris Mistakes v. i. 68 Had but my shafts hit right to my desire, I wou'd have laugh'd even in the face of heaven. 1796 S. T. Coleridge Lett. (1895) 209 Laugh in the faces of gloom and ill-lookingness. 1845 J. E. Cooke Mohun ii. xxvi. 177 Heaven had given him animal spirits, and he laughed in the face of danger. 1853 Godey's Lady's Bk. Sept. 230 That fearless trust which invests the soul in its first ignorance of evil, and causes it (having no choice but the Will of its Original) to laugh in the face of death. 1961 I. Khan Jumbie Bird (1985) i. 4 They were staunch refusals to lie down and die, defiantly laughing in the face of time. 1998 R. Ray Certain Age 223 Because upstairs, laughing in the face of EU regulations, we were now cultivating our very own strain of biological warfare. |