I.
noun
1 sound/act of laughing
ADJECTIVE
▪ loud
▪ light , little , short , slight , small , soft
▪ deep , low , rich
▪ big , good , great
▪
The last joke got the biggest ~.
▪ belly , booming , hearty
▪ harsh , shrill
▪ barking , husky , throaty
▪ sexy
▪
He laughed that warm, sexy ~.
▪ tinkling
▪ amused , delighted
▪ embarrassed , nervous , shaky
▪ bitter , cynical , derisive , dry , fake ( esp. AmE ), forced , hollow , humourless/humorless , mirthless , mocking , rueful , sarcastic , scornful , wry
▪
She forced a bitter ~.
▪ genuine
▪
Nick responded with a genuine ~.
▪ cruel , evil , sinister
▪
The man laughed, a harsh, evil ~.
▪ cheap
▪
This movie is too intent upon getting cheap ~s.
▪ infectious
VERB + LAUGH
▪ give , laugh , let out
▪
He gave a short, amused ~.
▪
She laughed a hollow ~ then fell silent.
▪ have
▪ share
▪
We all shared a good ~.
▪ force , manage
▪ bite back ( esp. AmE ), choke back , hold back , smother ( esp. AmE ), stifle , suppress
▪
She tried to suppress a ~, but ended up giggling anyway.
▪ enjoy , like
▪
He enjoys a good ~.
▪ draw , earn ( AmE ), get , raise ( BrE )
▪
That earned a ~ from everyone.
▪
Few of his jokes got a ~.
▪
She got a ~ out of Jack.
▪ hear
LAUGH + VERB
▪ escape sb
▪
A small ~ escaped her.
▪ ring out
▪
A ~ rang out behind me.
PREPOSITION
▪ for a ~
▪
She dyed her hair green just for a ~.
▪ with a ~
▪
He left the room with a cynical ~.
▪ ~ about , ~ at
▪
We all had a great ~ about it when we got home.
▪ ~ over
▪
I had a good ~ over that one.
PHRASES
▪ be good for a ~
▪
Paula's always good for a ~ (= always amusing) .
▪ have the last ~
▪
We'll have the last ~ if she finds out that you're the one who played the trick.
▪ a ~ at sb's expense
▪
Oh yes, very funny—have your ~ at my expense!
▪ the ~ is on sb (= sb looks ridiculous after they have tried to make fun of sb else)
▪ play sb/sth for ~s
▪
She seemed unsure of whether to play her role seriously or for ~s.
2 sb/sth that is amusing
ADJECTIVE
▪ good , great , real
PHRASES
▪ a barrel of ~s , a bit of a ~ , a ~ a minute (= very funny)
II.
verb
ADVERB
▪ aloud , loudly , out loud
▪
It looked so funny that I almost ~ed out loud.
▪ gently , inwardly , lightly , quietly , silently , softly , under your breath
▪ deeply , hard , heartily , a lot , really , uproariously
▪
I have not heard an audience ~ so hard for a long time.
▪
He ~ed heartily at his own joke.
▪ just , merely , simply
▪
I thought she would be angry but she just ~ed.
▪ almost
▪ briefly , a little , shakily , sheepishly , shortly , slightly , weakly
▪
She ~ed slightly as she saw my expression.
▪ suddenly
▪ easily , freely
▪
She smiles and ~s easily.
▪ openly , outright
▪ helplessly , uncontrollably
▪ cheerfully , delightedly ( esp. AmE ), happily , merrily
▪ hysterically
▪ nervously , uneasily
▪
I ~ed uneasily, trying to make light of the moment.
▪ politely
▪ good-naturedly
▪
Emilio tilted his head back and ~ed good-naturedly.
▪ incredulously , in disbelief
▪ triumphantly
▪ bitterly , coldly , cynically , derisively , drily , evilly , grimly , harshly , hollowly , humourlessly/humorlessly , mirthlessly , mockingly , ruefully , sarcastically , scornfully , wickedly , wryly
▪
He realized how he had been fooled, and ~ed bitterly.
▪ insanely , madly , maniacally , manically
▪ together
▪
They were talking and ~ing together.
VERB + LAUGH
▪ have to , want to
▪
He looked so funny I just had to ~.
▪ begin to , start to
▪ try not to
▪
I was watching them and trying not to ~.
▪ learn to
▪
Don't take life too seriously. Learn to ~ at yourself.
▪ make sb
▪
He pulled a funny face to make us ~.
▪ hear sb
▪
I heard him suddenly ~ aloud.
PREPOSITION
▪ about
▪
Tomorrow you'll be able to ~ about this.
▪ at
▪
The audience ~ed at her jokes.
▪ in
▪
Sam shook her head, ~ing in amusement.
▪ over
▪
We were ~ing over some joke Bentley had told.
▪ with
▪
She spent time talking and ~ing with the children.
▪
Trent almost ~ed with relief.
PHRASES
▪ burst out ~ing , bust out ~ing ( AmE )
▪ can't help ~ing , can't stop ~ing
▪
She was fooling around and we couldn't stop ~ing.
▪ fall about ~ing ( BrE )
▪
It was so funny we just fell about ~ing.
▪ find yourself ~ing
▪
He laughed, and she found herself ~ing with him.
▪ start ~ing
▪
Vivian started ~ing hysterically.
▪ stop ~ing
Laugh is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ audience , ↑ eye
Laugh is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ laugh