laugh

verb

\ ˈlaf

, ˈläf\

laughed; laughing; laughs

Definition of laugh

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : to show emotion (such as mirth, joy, or scorn) with a chuckle or explosive vocal sound The audience was laughing hysterically.

b : to find amusement or pleasure in something laughed at his own clumsiness

c : to become amused or derisive a very skeptical public laughed at our early efforts— Graenum Berger

2a : to produce the sound or appearance of laughter a laughing brook

b : to be of a kind that inspires joy the blue sky of Autumn laughs above— Amy Lowell

transitive verb

1 : to influence or move by laughter laughed the bad singer off the stage

2 : to utter with a laugh laughs her consent

laugh

noun

Definition of laugh (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : the act of laughing

2a : a cause for derision or merriment : joke

b : an expression of scorn or mockery : jeer

3 laughs plural : diversion, sport play baseball just for laughs

Other Words from laugh Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about laugh

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Examples of laugh in a Sentence

Verb

What are you laughing about? The audience was laughing hysterically. I've never laughed so hard in my life. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw what he was wearing. I laughed out loud when I saw him. He laughed so hard I thought he'd die laughing. The movie was hilarious. We laughed our heads off. “I've never seen anything so ridiculous,” he laughed.

Noun

He gave a loud laugh. a joke that always gets a big laugh The movie has a lot of laughs. You're going to be a movie star? That's a laugh.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

In April, when the Lions drafted Hockenson, Ebron tweeted laughing emojis at Dan Orlovsky after the ex-Lions quarterback praised the pick on Twitter. — Chris Thomas, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit Lions' T.J. Hockenson is no Eric Ebron, sets NFL record in debut," 8 Sep. 2019 In some conversations, people were laughing, but she was struck by the loneliness in others. — Michael Erard, Quartz, "How a doctor and a linguist are using AI to better talk to dying patients," 3 Sep. 2019 At this point, all Scott can really do is laugh, especially after video of the rogue football breaking her nose went viral. — Michelle R. Martinelli, For The Win, "Meet Louisville's Elizabeth Scott, the dancer who suffered a broken nose on national TV," 3 Sep. 2019 Looking back at his MySpace crusade today, Rubio laughs. — Wired, "Senators on Protecting Kids' Privacy: 'It's Complicated'," 30 Aug. 2019 Nina Tucker is greeted by Barbara Lewis and Kathy Burns as the evening's host, Phil Downs, laughs. — La Cañada Valley Sun, "Hospital cafe entices senior with healthy options, sweet discount," 28 Aug. 2019 Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges retweeted that, with four laughing emoji. — Cindy Boren, courant.com, "NCAA wants agents to have college degree, which LeBron James thinks is BS," 8 Aug. 2019 The authors made me laugh, empathize, and totally relate to all of the different mini-columns. — BostonGlobe.com, "Letters to the editor of the Boston Globe Magazine," 18 Aug. 2019 A month later, a month after playing out what became an unlikely bonus round during NBA summer league, Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson can only laugh. — Ira Winderman, sun-sentinel.com, "Heat’s Duncan Robinson dishes on Dan Dakich, Andrew Dakich and ESPN’s version of ‘Millionaire’," 15 Aug. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Check back here for more laughs throughout the rest of the week. — Wired, "Today's Cartoon: September 2, 2019," 2 Sep. 2019 Theodora’s godfather kicked off the celebration with a speech about Theodora’s childhood that garnered a lot of laughs, then sandwiches and croque monsieur were served with Champagne. — Alexandra Macon, Vogue, "The Bride Wore Emilia Wickstead to Her English Wedding at an 18th-Century Estate," 6 Mar. 2019 That comes in the form of laughs (with returning scene-stealer Michael Peña), aw-shucks heart (with Lang's daughter), and utter frustration (with another scene-stealer, Randall Park as a ragingly insecure FBI agent). — Sam Machkovech And Nathan Mattise, Ars Technica, "Films for the discerning nerd: Ars picks the best of 2018," 27 Dec. 2018 Christine was occasionally the butt of jokes, but only in the same way as every other character in the show, getting laughs out of her naiveté and lack of irony, rather than her being played by a famous '80s comic in drag. — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, "Critic's Notebook: The End of 'Baskets' and the Struggle of Loving Niche TV," 22 Aug. 2019 The video then shows Bennett reaching out and shoving Pan in the back after Pan laughs, launching the lawmaker several feet forward. — CBS News, "Anti-vaccine activist livestreams himself shoving California lawmaker who wrote vaccination bills," 22 Aug. 2019 Two things in the first trailer spawned goosebumps for old-school fans: voiceover narration by Jedi master Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and a piece of the Death Star followed by the evil laugh of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). — Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, "Where's Luke? Who's Keri Russell playing? Every 'Star Wars' question we need answered at D23," 22 Aug. 2019 After a string of musical acts, Jeff Foxworthy aims to bring some laughs to the main stage. — Chris Bieri, Anchorage Daily News, "Alaska State Fair 2019 concert lineup: Home Free, Cole Swindell, Elle King and more," 22 Aug. 2019 Further Reading Disney’s Gravity Falls is weird Americana meets Lovecraft for kids More often than that, Enter the Florpus elicits laughs—serious out-loud howls—for its willingness to abruptly disobey all logic and reason in the name of absurdity. — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, "Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus," 16 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'laugh.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.