chuckle
/ˈt͡ʃʌkəl/ noun, verb, adjective
Forms chuckles chuckling chuckled
- noun A quiet laugh.
- verb To laugh quietly or inwardly.
- verb (transitive) To communicate through chuckling. “She chuckled her assent to my offer as she got in the car.”
- verb (intransitive, archaic) To make the sound of a chicken; to cluck.
- verb (transitive, archaic) To call together, or call to follow, as a hen calls her chickens; to cluck.
- verb (transitive, archaic) To fondle; to indulge or pamper.
- adjective (obsolete) Clumsy.
Synonyms
chortle giggle snigger titter grope coddle pet touch up posset laugh softly
Etymology
From chuck (“laugh”) + -le.
Perhaps from chock (“a log”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To call, as a hen her chickens; to cluck. [Obs.] Dryden.
- verb To fondle; to cocker. [Obs.] Dryden.
- noun A short, suppressed laugh; the expression of satisfaction, exultation, or derision.
- verb To laugh in a suppressed or broken manner, as expressing inward satisfaction, exultation, or derision.
Etymology [From lst Chuck.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chuckle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details