ha-ha

A young girl and her aunt laughing

Imitative.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑːhɑː/, /hɑːˈhɑː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑˌhɑ/, /ˌhɑˈhɑ/

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ha-ha

1. An approximation of the sound of laughter.

• ha ha
• haha

• hehe
• ho, ho, ho
• tee hee

ha-ha (plural ha-has)

1. A laugh.
   • 1957, Ernie Kovacs, Zoomar: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, OCLC 777280, page 28:

     Ha-has from both sides of the door.

   • 1997, David Gessner, A Wild, Rank Place: One Year on Cape Cod, Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, →ISBN, page 90:

     We had a fine dinner, punctuated with Heidi's loud ha-has and lots of wine.

   • 2012, David Mazzarella, “Benigna’s Story”, in Always Eat the Hard Crust of the Bread: Recollections and Recipes from My Centenarian Mother, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, in association with TPD Publishing LLC, →ISBN, page 24:

     Not just giggles or a few ha-has, but the paralyzing kind of laughter, when the eyes tear and the nose runs and one gasps seemingly unto apoplexy.

2. Something funny; a joke.
   • 1983 March, Patricia Sharpe; Helen Thompson, “Around the State: A Selective Statewide Guide to Amusements and Events”, in Texas Monthly, volume 11, number 3, Austin, Tx.: Texas Monthly, Inc., ISSN 0148-7736, OCLC 466334481, page 68, column 3:

     Durty Nelly's, […] You'll catch a few ha-has and even a golden memory or two singing along with the house piano player.

   • 1996, Lois A. Chaber, “Sir Charles Grandison and the Human Prospect”, in Albert J. Rivero, editor, New Essays on Samuel Richardson, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 196:

     She is not rewarded until she learns to reduce her expectations, and surprises (the ha-has of this novel) are the educational tool.

   • 2005 December, Sue Grafton, S is for Silence, New York, N.Y.: Putnam, →ISBN:

     If Kathy had been with us, she'd have countered with a few ha-has of her own, thus guaranteeing a laugh at his expense.

A ha-ha near Parham House in Parham Park, West Sussex, England, UK

From French haha, supposedly from ha! as an expression of surprise.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑːhɑː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑˌhɑ/

ha-ha (plural ha-has)

1. (architecture) A ditch with one vertical side, acting as a sunken fence, designed to block the entry of animals into lawns and parks without breaking sightlines.
   • 1814 July, [Jane Austen], chapter IX, in Mansfield Park: A Novel. In Three Volumes, volume I, London: Printed for T[homas] Egerton, […], OCLC 39810224, page 197:

     A few steps farther brought them out at the bottom of the very walk they had been talking of; and standing back, well shaded and sheltered, and looking over a ha-ha into the park, was a comfortable-sized bench, on which they all sat down.

   • 1896, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “The Sayers of the Law”, in The Island of Doctor Moreau (Heinemann’s Colonial Library of Popular Fiction; 52), London: William Heinemann, OCLC 892648905; republished as The Island of Doctor Moreau: A Possibility, New York, N.Y.: Stone & Kimball, 1896, OCLC 660486, pages 115–116:

     This pathway ran up hill, across another open space covered with white incrustation, and plunged into a canebrake again. Then suddenly it turned parallel with the edge of a steep-walled gap, which came without warning, like the ha-ha of an English park,—turned with an unexpected abruptness. I was still running with all my might, and I never saw this drop until I was flying headlong through the air.

• har-har

• ha-ha on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

ha-ha

1. ha-ha, haha (onomatopoeic representation of laughter)

• ahah

• IPA^(key): [ ha˧˧ha˥˥ ]

ha-ha (POJ, traditional and simplified 哈哈)

1. (onomatopoeia) the sound of someone laughing out loud

   哈哈笑 (ha-ha-chhiò) to laugh out loud