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Crossword clues for laughter

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
laughter
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a bellow of rage/laughter etc
▪ Alex gave another bellow of laughter.
a scream of laughter/delight
▪ We could hear the children’s screams of laughter.
alight with excitement/pleasure/laughter etc
▪ Jed’s face was alight with excitement.
appreciative laughter/applause
be doubled up/over with laughter/pain etc
▪ Both the girls were doubled up with laughter.
burst into laughter
▪ Suddenly, the group burst into laughter.
helpless laughter/rage/tears etc
▪ We both collapsed into helpless giggles.
hoot of laughter/derision etc
▪ Hoots of laughter rose from the audience.
hoot with laughter/glee/mirth etc
▪ He had the audience hooting with laughter.
howl with laughter
▪ He makes audiences howl with laughter.
howls of laughter
▪ This suggestion was greeted with howls of laughter.
hysterical laughter
▪ Everyone in the studio burst into hysterical laughter.
in fits of laughter
▪ We were all in fits of laughter trying to clear up the mess.
laughter lines
nervous laughter
▪ His comment was met with nervous laughter.
peals of laughter
▪ We could hear peals of laughter coming from the hall.
provoke laughter
▪ Sara's remark provoked faint laughter.
raucous laughter
▪ He burst into raucous laughter.
ripple of laughter
▪ A ripple of laughter ran through the audience.
roar of laughter
▪ He let out a roar of laughter.
roaring with laughter
▪ By this time, Michael was roaring with laughter.
rocked with laughter
▪ Jim rocked with laughter when he heard what had happened.
scream with laughter/delight
▪ She threw her head back and screamed with laughter.
screeched with laughter
▪ They screeched with laughter.
shake with laughter
▪ Both women shook with laughter.
snorted with laughter
▪ She snorted with laughter.
snorts of laughter
▪ There were snorts of laughter from the audience.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
full
▪ The book is full of unexpected laughter as well as despair.
▪ So family life was always full, full of coming and going, full of laughter, full of activity.
▪ The fat driver giggled, then burst into full laughter, the rolls under his robes quivering like jellies.
▪ It had been a special childhood, full of laughter and fun.
▪ Elizabeth who was bright and full of laughter has brought silence with her.
great
▪ He gave a great peal of laughter with lots of teeth flashing.
▪ Just call on me. Great laughter rang from all sides.
helpless
▪ I am terrified to look at them because I know I will collapse into helpless laughter.
▪ I flipped from fury straight into hilarity and collapsed on the ground beside him, rolling around in helpless laughter too.
▪ Durkin had struggled out of the car helpless with laughter, delighted with all the excitement he was causing.
▪ For a while my wife and I were helpless with laughter, but trying to clean up afterwards taught us a lesson!
hysterical
▪ Mr Morgan and his organ releasing them into hysterical laughter had anaesthetized the horror of the past.
▪ The sound of hysterical laughter swept through the new arrivals as they looked at each other.
▪ The big problem for anybody watching the opening ceremony must have been suppressing whoops of hysterical laughter.
▪ They made a sound like hysterical laughter as they played their games.
▪ A bubble of hysterical laughter rose to her lips.
loud
▪ Soon there was a burst of loud scandalised laughter.
▪ One or two of the surrounding faces expressed alarm but loud laughter was the general response.
▪ As Athelstan turned off Cheapside into Poultry, he could still hear their loud guffaws of laughter.
▪ The back row broke out in its loudest laughter yet.
▪ Later in the evening the sound of loud laughter wafted up through the open window, and even snatches of a song.
▪ During the movie, though, my audience participation mostly took the form of loud, raucous laughter.
nervous
▪ There was a general gasp and Todger let out a nervous shriek of laughter that sounded horribly like mockery.
▪ The crowd of 3, 523, clearly rooting for Seles, broke out in nervous laughter as the second set unfolded.
▪ In an absurd world, perhaps a bit of nervous laughter is more honest than floods of tears.
▪ There were rumors of an investigation, nervous jokes and nervous laughter, but in the end nothing came of it.
▪ Despite her nervous laughter, Diana had given the prospect much thought.
raucous
▪ Some raucous laughter followed the ribald remark.
▪ Although Great Groups experience their moments of near despair, they are more often raucous with laughter.
▪ Half way through, Rainbow is ejected from the cinema, after complaints about too much raucous laughter.
▪ During the movie, though, my audience participation mostly took the form of loud, raucous laughter.
▪ No one turned a hair at your raucous laughter.
▪ He seemed to find the remark hilarious, because he broke into raucous laughter.
silent
▪ He'd done so once, and seen them writhing in silent laughter.
■ VERB
break
▪ There was another awkward silence, broken by the laughter from the bar.
▪ Then we broke into giddy laughter.
▪ Saying this causes them both to break into laughter.
▪ He seemed to find the remark hilarious, because he broke into raucous laughter.
▪ The crowd of 3, 523, clearly rooting for Seles, broke out in nervous laughter as the second set unfolded.
▪ And soon the house is breaking up with laughter and excellent vibes.
▪ Visualising the imaginary scene Cosmo broke into laughter.
bring
▪ He was in front of a mirror, and the sight had brought forth gusts of laughter.
▪ I was lucky to find him and I want to thank him for bringing laughter and fun back into my life.
burst
▪ Blue, blue eyes caught and held hers, and she burst into delighted laughter.
▪ Gorbachev looked shocked by my familiarity, then burst into laughter.
▪ I found myself wandering round with a wry smile on my face and occasionally bursting into laughter at my own presumption.
▪ They were doubled over, poking at each other, making cryptic comments and bursting again into laughter.
▪ They burst into laughter and we piled once again into his car for another search.
▪ She burst into laughter in the Sabbath dimness of the place.
▪ The ridiculousness of the situation made him smile and, throwing his head back, he burst into peals of laughter.
▪ Both of them said the word on the same downbeat, which made them burst into laughter at how hilarious they sounded.
dissolve
▪ Francis and Christopher dissolved in laughter, lapped theirs up and declared it very good.
▪ The waiter bowed and retreated, Stephen and Lily dissolved into laughter.
▪ Hopefully the audience will dissolve into fits of laughter.
draw
▪ Orifice jokes draw gales of laughter from the cultish audience.
fill
▪ The air was filled with their smoky laughter and the sound of the jukebox.
▪ With Erma, every conversation was filled with laughter.
▪ Here someday my lonely existence will be filled with laughter.
follow
▪ A large gasp was audible, followed by laughter.
▪ He heard a man's gruff voice and a loud slap, followed by familiar lilting laughter.
▪ It was a moment of gravity following laughter.
hear
▪ When she was a young woman, she could hear distant laughter down long corridors, as she lay in her bed.
▪ It would be nice to hear the laughter of children.
▪ Polly could hear far-off voices and laughter, and the soft tapping of metal halyards against masts.
▪ Later, as he approached his office, he did hear laughter.
▪ In imagination I hear angelic laughter as a background to the life of the other world.
▪ I heard smatterings of laughter, an occasional light conversational swell, but it sounded like most of the guests had departed.
▪ If Beuno could hear the laughter it could not, in her estimation, be bad; nor could she be mad.
join
▪ Even Rachel Gray joined in the laughter that followed.
▪ Normally, Henry would have joined in the laughter.
▪ I joined him in his laughter.
laugh
▪ Rufus went on laughing, hiccuping with laughter.
▪ And why don't the miseries of the poor make us laugh, if laughter derives from the feeling of superiority?
roar
▪ To fill the gap he roared with laughter at his own witty fashion of dealing with ethics.
▪ He roared with laughter and went about his business.
▪ They roar with laughter at the funny bits.
▪ One minute they were sitting there looking self-conscious and the next they were roaring with laughter.
▪ He roared with laughter, and got up to refill his mug.
▪ Mycroft flung back his head and roared with laughter.
▪ She would have roared with laughter.
▪ She roared with laughter, and so did everyone else.
rock
▪ Take laughing: I have only to titter and, in seconds, the Monster also is rocking with pretend laughter.
▪ The performance had the legislature, including the subjects of the barbs, rocking with laughter.
scream
▪ The juke was screaming and the laughter was wild.
shake
▪ Her shoulders shook with laughter, her alabaster cheeks flushed with warmth.
▪ Cameron was shaking with laughter, looking on and making no move to help.
▪ Rows and rows of streetlights shaking with laughter.
shriek
▪ She had a wonderful sense of humor and would shriek with laughter when her daddy made funny faces and squeaky noises.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a gale/gales of laughter
be convulsed with laughter/anger etc
▪ All of us were convulsed with laughter.
▪ From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down I was convulsed with laughter.
canned music/laughter
▪ Some hotels programme their canned music in twenty-four hour cycles, varying by location and the hour.
▪ You do not warm to this lady, who delivers her lines to camera as if waiting for the canned laughter.
dissolve into/in laughter/tears etc
▪ Francis and Christopher dissolved in laughter, lapped theirs up and declared it very good.
▪ If he mentioned moving out of her parents' house, she dissolved into tears.
▪ Katherine threw herself against Gary and dissolved into tears.
▪ The waiter bowed and retreated, Stephen and Lily dissolved into laughter.
▪ When at last she is alone, her sorrow overwhelms her and she dissolves in tears.
erupt into laughter/shouting etc
gust of laughter
▪ There was a gust of laughter.
spasm of grief/laughter/coughing etc
▪ A spasm of coughing woke him.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ The show was a great success, and had the audience roaring with laughter.
▪ Thelma gave a gurgle of laughter.
▪ There was a burst of laughter when he appeared.
▪ We could hear laughter coming from the next room.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Laughter

Laughter \Laugh"ter\, n. [AS. hleahtor; akin to OHG. hlahtar, G. gel["a]chter, Icel. hl[=a]tr, Dan. latter. See Laugh, v. i. ] A movement (usually involuntary) of the muscles of the face, particularly of the lips, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction, or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs. See Laugh, v. i.

The act of laughter, which is a sweet contraction of the muscles of the face, and a pleasant agitation of the vocal organs, is not merely, or totally within the jurisdiction of ourselves.
--Sir T. Browne.

Archly the maiden smiled, and with eyes overrunning with laughter.
--Longfellow.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
laughter

late 14c., from Old English hleahtor, from Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz (cognates: Old Norse hlatr, Danish latter, Old High German lahtar, German Gelächter); see laugh (v.).

Wiktionary
laughter

n. The sound of laughing, produced by air so expelled; any similar sound.

WordNet
laughter
  1. n. the sound of laughing [syn: laugh]

  2. the activity of laughing; the manifestation of joy or mirth of scorn; "he enjoyed the laughter of the crowd"

Wikipedia
Laughter

Laughter is a physical reaction in humans and some other species of primate, consisting typically of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laughter can arise from such activities as being tickled, or from humorous stories or thoughts. Most commonly, it is considered a visual expression of a number of positive emotional states, such as joy, mirth, happiness, relief, etc. On some occasions, however, it may be caused by contrary emotional states such as embarrassment, apology, or confusion such as nervous laughter or courtesy laugh. Age, gender, education, language, and culture are all factors as to whether a person will experience laughter in a given situation.

Laughter is a part of human behavior regulated by the brain, helping humans clarify their intentions in social interaction and providing an emotional context to conversations. Laughter is used as a signal for being part of a group—it signals acceptance and positive interactions with others. Laughter is sometimes seen as contagious, and the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a positive feedback. This may account in part for the popularity of laugh tracks in situation comedy television shows.

The study of humor and laughter, and its psychological and physiological effects on the human body, is called gelotology.

Laughter (album)

Laughter is the second studio album by Ian Dury & The Blockheads; released in 1980, it was the last studio album Dury made for Stiff Records. It was also the last studio album he made with The Blockheads, until 1998's Mr. Love Pants, though a live album Warts 'n' Audience was produced in 1991.

Laughter (film)

Laughter is a 1930 film directed by Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast and starring Nancy Carroll, Fredric March and Frank Morgan.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story.

A copy has been preserved at the Library of Congress.

Laughter (disambiguation)

Laughter is an audible expression of merriment or amusement.

Laughter may also refer to:

  • Laughter (album), by Ian Dury & The Blockheads
  • Laughter (film), a 1930 film starring Fredric March
  • Laughter (book), a collection of three essays by Henri Bergson
  • Laughter (novel), an Arabic novel by Ghalib Halasa
Laughter (book)

Laughter is a collection of three essays by French philosopher Henri Bergson, first published in 1900. It was written in French, the original title is Le Rire. Essai sur la signification du comique ("Laughter, an essay on the meaning of the comic").

Laughter (The Mighty Lemon Drops album)

Laughter is the third studio album by English rock group The Mighty Lemon Drops. Released on Chrysalis/ Sire in 1989, the album was the band's first to feature David Newton as the primary songwriter, as co-writer and bassist Tony Linehan quit early during the recording sessions. The album contains the hit U.S. modern rock singles "Into the Heart of Love" and "Where Do We Go From Heaven".

Usage examples of "laughter".

But Conan doubted, for once, in a gold-barred cage in an Hyrkanian city, he had seen an abysmal sad-eyed beast which men told him was an ape, and there had been about it naught of the demoniac malevolence which vibrated in the shrieking laughter that echoed from the black jungle.

I replied, following her steps, that I presumed they had been placed there to impose on fools, or to excite the laughter of those acquainted with history.

From some dim adytum the recorded carols of a private celebration could be heard, and some laughter.

Waned the day and I hied me afield, and thereafter I sat with the mighty when daylight was done, But with great men beside me, midst high-hearted laughter, I deemed me of all men the gainfullest one.

Finally Aileron put up a hand, his chest so convulsed with laughter that he clearly could barely get a word out.

It Is Short but Happy--Don Antonio Casanova--Don Lelio Caraffa--I Go to Rome in Very Agreeable Company, and Enter the Service of Cardinal Acquaviva--Barbara--Testaccio--Frascati I had no difficulty in answering the various questions which Doctor Gennaro addressed to me, but I was surprised, and even displeased, at the constant peals of laughter with which he received my answers.

Both Arak and Sufa slapped their hands over their mouths in a vain effort to contain their laughter.

Mixed into the wind it reminded him of the laughter he had heard in the arboretum when he had come upon the duchess and the King.

There was no end to the laughter in his head, the laughter that rode the wind sweeping through Aren Gate at his back.

In the middle of the wood a brown hare with white feet sprang out and, scared by the tramp of the many horses, grew so confused that it leaped along the road in front of them for some time, arousing general attention and laughter, and only when several voices shouted at it did it dart to one side and disappear in the thicket.

From a chamber on the right, near a winding staircase covered with blue-and-white tiles, came the sound of laughter, of song, and of a hideous music conveyed to the astonied ear by pipes and drums.

When they discreetly confronted the attaché with still photographs, he burst into laughter and asked them if they could supply him with copies to send to his wife in Paris to prove that his virility had not diminished during his two years in Moscow.

Brother Peter coughed, Aumery succumbed to a fit of snorting laughter.

Kundera has created around it, by framing it with two autobiographical chapters where the sharp edge of laughter is turned against himself.

As all the women burst into sudden laughter at the susceptibility of men, the awkwardness dispersed.