guffaw

English

WOTD – 17 May 2006

Etymology

Probably onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɡəˈfɔː/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ɡəˈfɔ/
  • (AU/NZ) IPA(key): /ɡəˈfoː/
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔː

Noun

guffaw (plural guffaws)

  1. 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

Translations

Verb

guffaw (third-person singular simple present guffaws, present participle guffawing, simple past and past participle guffawed)

  1. (intransitive) To laugh boisterously.

Synonyms

Translations

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