CHUCKLE

chortle, chuckle

(noun) a soft partly suppressed laugh

chuckle, chortle, laugh softly

(verb) laugh quietly or with restraint

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

chuckle (plural chuckles)

A quiet laugh.

Synonyms

• chortle

• giggle

• snigger

• titter

Verb

chuckle (third-person singular simple present chuckles, present participle chuckling, simple past and past participle chuckled)

To laugh quietly or inwardly.

(transitive) To communicate through chuckling.

(intransitive, archaic) To make the sound of a chicken; to cluck.

(transitive, archaic) To call together, or call to follow, as a hen calls her chickens; to cluck.

(transitive, archaic) To fondle; to indulge or pamper.

Synonyms

• (to laugh quietly): see also laugh

• (to fondle): grope, pet, touch up; see also fondle

• (to pamper): coddle, posset; see also pamper

Etymology 2

Adjective

chuckle (comparative more chuckle, superlative most chuckle)

(obsolete) Clumsy.

Source: Wiktionary

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Chuc"kle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Chuckled; p. pr. & vb. n. Chuckling.] Etym: [From lst Chuck.]

1. To call, as a hen her chickens; to cluck. [Obs.] Dryden.

2. To fondle; to cocker. [Obs.] Dryden.

Chuc"kle, n.

Definition: A short, suppressed laugh; the expression of satisfaction, exultation, or derision.

Chuc"kle, v. i. Etym: [From lst Chuck.]

Definition: To laugh in a suppressed or broken manner, as expressing inward satisfaction, exultation, or derision.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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