laugh

[[t]læf, lɑf[/t]]

v. i.

1) to express mirth, pleasure, derision, or nervousness with an audible, vocal expulsion of air from the lungs that can range from a loud burst of sound to a series of quiet chuckles and is usu. accompanied by characteristic facial and bodily movements

2) to feel the emotion so expressed:

She laughed inwardly at the scene[/ex]

3) to produce a sound resembling laughter:

A coyote laughed in the dark[/ex]

4) to drive, put, bring, etc., by or with laughter (often fol. by out, away, down, etc.):

They laughed him out of town[/ex]

5) to utter with laughter:

He laughed his consent[/ex]

6) phv laugh at

a) to ridicule; deride

b) to find amusing

7) phv laugh off, to dismiss as trivial

8) the act or sound of laughing; laughter

9) an expression of mirth, derision, etc., by laughing

10) cvb a person or thing that provokes laughter, amusement, or ridicule:

That physics exam was a laugh[/ex]

11) laughs, Informal. fun; amusement

•

- have the last laugh laugh out of the other side of one's mouth or face laugh up or in one's sleeve

Etymology: bef. 900; ME; OE (Anglian) hlæh(h)an