I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a nervous smile/laugh/giggle
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‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said, with a nervous smile.
an audience laughs
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He has the ability to make an audience laugh.
an embarrassed smile/laugh/grin
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Lucy gave an embarrassed smile and looked down at her feet.
be no laughing matter (= be something serious and important, though it might seem funny )
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A doctor’s bad handwriting is no laughing matter, because it can lead to errors.
belly laugh
fell about laughing
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It was so funny everyone just fell about laughing .
give a smile/laugh/grin/frown/yawn etc
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She gave a little frown.
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Joel gave me a smile as I walked in.
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He gave her a big hug.
harsh voice/laugh/tone etc
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His voice was harsh and menacing.
have sb laughing/crying etc
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Within minutes he had the whole audience laughing and clapping.
laugh at sb’s jokes
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A few people laughed at his jokes, but some didn’t find them funny.
laugh lines
laugh track
laugh with delight
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‘That’s a brilliant idea’! she said, laughing with delight.
laughed heartily
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Hugh laughed heartily at the joke.
laugh/groan/cry etc aloud
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The pain made him cry aloud.
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She could have laughed aloud.
laughing gas
laughing stock
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The programme has made the U.S. a laughing stock .
Life is not...a barrel of laughs
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Life is not exactly a barrel of laughs at the moment.
made...a laughing stock
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The programme has made the U.S. a laughing stock .
manage to smile/speak/laugh etc
▪
‘Why do you hate me so much?’ he managed to say.
sarcastic manner/smile/laugh etc
▪
‘I thought so,’ she said with a sarcastic smile.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
aloud
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Quddus left the room, laughing aloud .
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Uncrossing her ankles, she managed not to laugh aloud .
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She wanted to laugh aloud at the prospect of the delight she would give.
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However his ringing peroration struck most of those present as being ridiculous, and many laughed aloud .
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So, when he treated me like this, I laughed aloud .
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He looked, stared, then laughed aloud and moved.
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Jurnet laughed aloud , the sound rumbling comfortably round the little church.
heartily
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This they did two or three times, forgetting my presence, and laughed heartily at the mistake.
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He too laughs heartily , his face growing red with sake.
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Pearce laughs heartily at the recollection.
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At this, Kay Collins laughs heartily .
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Derek, laughing heartily , gave me the key and I let myself in to meet my birthday present.
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Across the room, a table of young men in fitted shirts is laughing heartily and splashing out wine.
■ VERB
stop
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Very good they are too: it's taken me a whole month to stop laughing !
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She apologizes for her rudeness, but can not stop laughing .
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Some of the audience had stopped laughing , too but not out of pity for Lucie.
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Charlie had stopped laughing by then and had taken a mouthful of beer while he listened to whatever it was Jack said.
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Polly caught the look on his face and stopped laughing .
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But somewhere along the line they stopped laughing when they compared their own results with what we were achieving.
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He had been recommended to see Ken's show, took a box for the evening and couldn't stop laughing .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be a barrel of laughs
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It wasn't a barrel of laughs, but I learned a lot.
be a bundle of laughs/fun
be good for a laugh
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Let's go watch Brent play volleyball. That'll be good for a laugh.
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Might be good for a laugh.
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She almost knew her performance was good for a laugh, sometimes a kiss.
drink/laugh/scare etc yourself silly
▪
Well, I laughed myself silly .
hollow laugh/voice etc
laugh/cry hard
▪
Suddenly, he came inside crying hard .
laugh/shout/scream etc your head off
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By this time Irene was emitting a steady gurgle of contentment, when she wasn't laughing her head off.
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If Hancock himself had been around, he would have doubtless squirmed as the audience laughed their heads off.
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Joey stood in the door laughing his head off and Noreen peered over his shoulder, her hands over her mouth.
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Louise: Ursula would have laughed her head off.
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Old Warleigh would laugh his head off if I put reasons like that to him.
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Then he tips her down and she's screaming her head off.
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Tony races past, laughing his head off.
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You were screaming your head off.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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"It won't even be cold when we get there," Sabina laughed.
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I laughed all the way through the film.
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I couldn't understand what they were all laughing about.
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I thought Dad would be angry, but he just laughed.
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No-one laughed at his jokes.
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We just looked at each other and burst out laughing.
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We were laughing so hard we couldn't stop.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Frankly, we don't know whether to laugh or cry.
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Humans can be reduced to tears by tickling, but most of the time we laugh because of auditory cues.
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Looking down, she saw him beside a bush, only half concealed, laughing at her face.
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Mrs Meiers blamed me because I laughed.
II. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
big
▪
It got the biggest laugh of the night, so we decided to keep it in.
bitter
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She shook her head as a short, unexpectedly bitter laugh bubbled up from her chest.
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Everyone was laughing; it was a bitter , unpleasant laugh which the Collector recognized as the sound of despair.
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A bitter laugh rose up like bile in her throat.
deep
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She watched his rugged composure, heard his deep , distinctive laugh and felt anger swelling inside.
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She had a deep , rich laugh that showed all her teeth.
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He practised a deep evil laugh , sounded real spooky and sinister.
good
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Johnson got a good laugh out of it.
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We all had a good laugh about that.
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And perhaps a good laugh was the best contribution after all.
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I had a good laugh about it and eventually she saw the funny side.
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There's always a reason to have a good laugh .
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It's always a good laugh watching him getting increasingly irritated with the interviewer after a humiliating defeat.
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The Mahatma had a good laugh .
great
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And, if I prefer House to Garden, it is because it both touches deeper chords and garners even greater laughs .
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The greatest laugh they enjoyed was pretending Patsy was a little girl.
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It's bursting with great laughs and good gags.
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It's a great laugh for Dickie but Beefy's in agony.
hard
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If they laughed , then, a moment later, he contributed a loud, hard , unnatural-sounding laugh.
hearty
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My flesh crept as he unleashed a hearty laugh and motioned me towards the chair.
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He has a hearty laugh that takes a long time to end once it begins.
light
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The proper response was a light laugh and a phrase that turned the advice aside.
little
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I give a little laugh and Peter looks over at me and hits it again, harder this time.
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She even mentioned it to Mel with a vicious little laugh that afternoon, and he felt sorry for the girl.
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Lee said, breathing a little laugh through his nose.
loud
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It was a loud laugh which Sandison would have found embarrassing if there had been lots of people in the bar.
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Occasionally a shout or a loud laugh broke the gloom.
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A loud , evil laugh rang out through the silent night.
low
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Rather, his low laugh held a note that sent unexpected shivers down her spine.
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As the mourners left, Lydia heard a low laugh and sat up on her rug, thinking suspiciously of her ears.
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The boy sat up suddenly and laughed a strange, low laugh.
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He laughs a low laugh of relief.
nervous
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The humour was heavy-handed and, in response to Simon Franks' nervous laugh , Blanche smiled politely.
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A nervous laugh , because she was beginning to feel uneasy.
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She was a shy, quiet woman in her mid-twenties with a tinkling nervous laugh .
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The silence that followed was finally broken by a nervous laugh from one of the men-at-arms.
shaky
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Lindsey gave a shaky laugh as he moved closer.
short
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The Woman unclenched her fists, gave a short laugh and sat down again.
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When she finished he gave a short laugh and bowed his head.
small
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Ben, following a few paces behind, gave a small laugh , but it was unrelated to his father's comment.
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Ana gave a small , gurgling laugh and Maggie leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
■ NOUN
track
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They want to make screwball romantic comedies but they wind up producing sitcoms that look lost without a laugh track .
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Television producers exploit this by using laugh tracks dubbed into the soundtracks of comedies.
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We want to make the first feature film with a laugh track .
■ VERB
get
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I get a laugh out of it.
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Johnson got a good laugh out of it.
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When you win, you get the last laugh .
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It got the biggest laugh of the night, so we decided to keep it in.
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Of course, this also means Dunston, played by an adorable and talented ape named Sam, gets all the laughs .
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Once getting laughs was all that mattered.
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You go on and get your laugh now.
give
▪
Kelly sat in the jockeys' stand at Sandown and gave a quiet laugh .
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He gave out a thin laugh .
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Let's hope your redundancy cheques gave you the last laugh .
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As soon as she saw this, she gave a delighted laugh , and pushed me out of the gate.
hear
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He heard her mocking laugh as, arm in arm with her sister, she strode off down the corridor.
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She heard Miranda gasp a little laugh and did not wish to see why.
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I just heard this fabulous laugh , like a whole octave, top to bottom.
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The lights came on, and they heard a man's laugh .
▪
As the mourners left, Lydia heard a low laugh and sat up on her rug, thinking suspiciously of her ears.
raise
▪
My job is to raise laughs and cancer is hardly conducive.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be a barrel of laughs
▪
It wasn't a barrel of laughs, but I learned a lot.
be a bundle of laughs/fun
be good for a laugh
▪
Let's go watch Brent play volleyball. That'll be good for a laugh.
▪
Might be good for a laugh.
▪
She almost knew her performance was good for a laugh, sometimes a kiss.
burst out laughing/crying/singing etc
▪
At that point I burst out laughing.
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Charles didn't respond and after a frozen pause, she collapsed into a chair and burst out crying.
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He did it so cleverly that you would think it was the real thing - until he burst out laughing.
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I came down the steps of the Ashbery that morning and burst out laughing at the heat.
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I said and burst out crying.
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Julie, surprised, burst out laughing.
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The whole group bursts out laughing.
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The woman and children burst out laughing again, getting up from the table and crowding round me.
die laughing
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Rebecca told me this joke on the phone today, and I almost died laughing.
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I just died laughing because it was sick too.
drink/laugh/scare etc yourself silly
▪
Well, I laughed myself silly .
force a smile/laugh etc
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He forces a smile, and Beulah smiles back.
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I forced a smile and then turned and fled to my room.
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I forced a smile on seeing him.
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The girls forced smiles as they had been taught, but Sandi, in revenge, also crossed her eyes.
▪
The man turned out to be Alan Stewart, the comedian, who managed to force a smile as Roy apologised.
go flying/laughing/rushing etc
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Any minute I expected the poor little madman to go flying in the night, dead.
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Bodies not strapped in by seat belts go flying.
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But shouldn't you try and find out some more about him before you go rushing off?
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It tripped on a book and almost went flying, but it just succeeded in remaining upright.
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So why had she gone rushing north from Lima to see this half-brother of hers?
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Spit went flying, seen by millions.
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The doll and blanket went flying, bounced off the far end of the block, and fell into the make-believe river.
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The next member of the team took his place at the stumps only to see both bails go flying.
hollow laugh/voice etc
laugh/cry hard
▪
Suddenly, he came inside crying hard .
laugh/shout/scream etc your head off
▪
By this time Irene was emitting a steady gurgle of contentment, when she wasn't laughing her head off.
▪
If Hancock himself had been around, he would have doubtless squirmed as the audience laughed their heads off.
▪
Joey stood in the door laughing his head off and Noreen peered over his shoulder, her hands over her mouth.
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Louise: Ursula would have laughed her head off.
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Old Warleigh would laugh his head off if I put reasons like that to him.
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Then he tips her down and she's screaming her head off.
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Tony races past, laughing his head off.
▪
You were screaming your head off.
piss yourself (laughing)
▪
He felt very cold, and he had pissed himself.
▪
No older girl has ever pissed herself on account of Laverne before.
▪
We both pissed ourselves laughing afterwards, wondering what all the fuss was about.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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"She says she'll be here early to help." "That's a laugh ."
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She gave a little nervous laugh and glanced towards Robyn.