guffaw
English
WOTD – 17 May 2006
Etymology
Probably onomatopoeic.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɡəˈfɔː/
- (US) IPA(key): /ɡəˈfɔ/
- (AU/NZ) IPA(key): /ɡəˈfoː/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔː
Noun
guffaw (plural guffaws)
- A boisterous laugh.
- 1845 October – 1846 June, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], Wuthering Heights: A Novel, volume II, London: Thomas Cautley Newby, publisher, […], published December 1847, OCLC 156123328:
- On opening the little door, two hairy monsters flew at my throat, bearing me down, and extinguishing the light; while a mingled guffaw from Heathcliff and Hareton put the copestone on my rage and humiliation.
- 1906, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter XX, in Sir Nigel:
- He walked to the edge and they heard his hoarse guffaw of laughter as the arrows clanged and clattered against his impenetrable mail.
- 1936, Robert E. Howard, chapter 15, in The Hour of the Dragon:
- He heaved up with a sulfurous curse, braced his legs and glared about him, with a burst of coarse guffaws in his ears and the reek of unwashed bodies in his nostrils.
- Synonym: belly laugh
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Translations
a boisterous laugh
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Verb
guffaw (third-person singular simple present guffaws, present participle guffawing, simple past and past participle guffawed)
- (intransitive) To laugh boisterously.
- 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter 15, in The Picture of Dorian Gray:
- He guffawed at his adversaries.
- 1900, Stephen Crane, The Knife:
- Peter, on the contrary, threw back his head and guffawed thunderously.
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Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:laugh
Translations
To laugh boisterously
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