laugh

verb Spoken: 1000 • Written: 1000
1 MAKE SOUND [I] to make sounds with your voice, usually while you are smiling, because you think something is funny:
• We were laughing so hard we couldn't stop. [+ at/about]:
• Everybody laughed at the joke.:
• When we saw what had happened to the cake we burst out laughing (= suddenly started laughing).
• When I first heard the idea, I almost laughed out loud (= laughed so that other people could hear).
• Joe's probably outside someplace laughing his head off (= laughing a lot).
2 no laughing matter something serious that should not be joked about:
• Dole and his staff know that age discrimination is no laughing matter.3 don't make me laugh SPOKEN used when someone has just told you something that is completely untrue, has asked for something impossible etc.:
• "Could you finish this by tomorrow?" "Don't make me laugh."4 be laughing all the way to the bank INFORMAL to be in a good situation because you have made a lot of money without making much effort
5 not know whether to laugh or cry to feel upset or annoyed by something bad or unlucky that has happened, but to also be able to see that there is something funny about it:
• When the whole cake fell off the table, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.6 laugh in sb's face to show that you do not respect someone or care about what they think:
• I confronted my daughter, but she just laughed in my face.
7 be laughed out of court/out of City Hall etc. if a person or idea is laughed out of a place, the idea is not accepted because people there think it is completely stupid:
• When Clements introduced the drug bill, he got laughed out of Congress.
8 SPEAK [T] to say something in a voice that shows you are amused:
• "It won't even be cold when we get there," Sabina laughed.
9 you have to laugh SPOKEN used to say that, even though a situation is annoying or disappointing, you can also see that there is something funny about it
10 laugh up your sleeve to be secretly happy, especially because you have played a trick on someone or criticized them without their knowing
11 sb will be laughing out of the other side of their mouth SPOKEN an unkind expression meaning that although someone is happy or confident now, they will be in trouble or in difficulty later
laugh at sb/sth phrasal verb [T]
1 to make unkind or funny remarks about someone, because they have done or said something you think is stupid:
• Kids hate to be laughed at.
• When Briggs predicted that the Berlin wall would come down, people laughed at him.
• He's the kind of person who laughs at people behind their backs (= is unkind about someone when they are not there).
2 laugh at yourself to not be serious about what you are doing all the time, and be able to understand that other people might think it is funny
3 to seem not to care about something that most people would worry about:
• Criminals just laugh at the gun control laws.laugh sth <-> off phrasal verb [T]
to pretend that something is less serious than it really is by laughing or joking about it:
• Palin laughed off rumors that she was going to change jobs.

laugh noun [C] Written: 3000
1 an act of laughing, or the sound you make when you laugh:
• a nervous laugh
• "I guess I'm a comedian at heart," she said with a laugh.2 INFORMAL a person, thing, or idea that cannot be considered seriously because it is so silly, stupid, or difficult to believe:
• "She says she'll be here early to help." "That's a laugh."3 be a laugh riot also be a laugh a minute INFORMAL to be very funny, amusing, and enjoyable:
• Bridges' performance is a laugh riot.
4 for laughsa) if you do something for laughs, you do it in a particular way so that other people will laugh:
• Williams plays the part for laughs.b) for fun:
• We took the helicopter ride just for laughs.
5 get/have a laugh (out of sth) to enjoy something and think it is funny:
• The ads are fun to do; we get a lot of laughs from the process.