Instructor: Marcela González de Gatti

LEXICAL SEARCHES BASED ON:

LONGMAN Dictionary of English Language and Culture
COLLINS Cobuild Advanced Dictionary of American English
LONGMAN Language Activator
OXFORD Collocations
COCA (Concordancer of Contemporary American English)
CAMBRIDGE
FREE DICTIONARY
MACMILLAN
WEBSTER’S
LAUGHTER
• To roar with laughter: to laugh loudly
• To explode/bellow/hoot//gurgle/snort
/roar/shriek/scream/howl/whoop with
laughter
• To rock/shake with laughter
• A roar/howl of laughter
• To give a gurgle of laughter
• A burst of laughter/to burst into laughter
• Gales/fits/peals/ripples/squeals of laughter: a
lot of laughter:
 The children collapsed in gales of laughter.
 The entire family went into fits of laughter.
 Peals of laughter filled the corridor.
 A ripple of laughter ran round the room.
TO LAUGH
• To laugh out loud: suddenly laugh loudly
• To laugh helplessly/ uncontrollably/
hysterically
• To laugh one’s head off: a lot and loudly
• To burst out laughing
• To laugh oneself silly/hoarse
• A belly laugh: a very loud, deep laugh

• To be in convulsions
• To be in stitches
• To split one’s sides laughing/
with laughter
OTHER EXPRESSIONS WITH
«LAUGH»
• To laugh in someone’s face: show clear
disrespect or disobedience towards someone:
 I suggested that he should work late and he
laughed in my face
• To laugh up one’s sleeve: to laugh secretly and
often unkindly
OTHER EXPRESSIONS WITH
«LAUGH»
• To be a laughing stock

• To be no laughing matter

• To do sth for kicks/giggles/laughs

• To giggle: Laugh quietly and repeatedly like a child
because of sth. funny or because you are nervous or
embarassed.
• To giggle at/over sth

They were giggling at some private joke.

There were a few smothered giggles from the girls
sitting by the pool.
She collapsed in a fit of giggles.
John has got the giggles again.
She gave a little giggle.
Giggly girls.

https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=IUymM_u7
X0A
• To titter: Give a short nervous laugh because
you are nervous, embarassed, or slightly
amused.

Mention sex therapy and most people will

titter in embarassment.
There was nervous tittering in the studio
audience.
She gave an uneasy little titter.
• To titter: Special connotation: to laugh at
something nervously, often at something
that you feel you should not be laughing at.

A couple of the younger teachers tittered at

his dirty jokes.
Their performance left the audience tittering
with embarrassed laughter.
She tittered and blushed.
School kids usually titter hysterically at
any nudity.
The love scene raised a few titters from
a group of 10-year-olds.
My joke drew only nervous titters.
• To chuckle: To laugh quietly, esp. because
you are thinking about sth. funny.

I could hear him chuckle to himself as he

read the comics.
He gave a chuckle.
«We used to get up to all kinds of mischief.»
She chuckled at the memory.
As she read the
letter, she
chuckled softly.
• To chuckle: To laugh quietly, esp. because
you are thinking about sth. funny.
• To chuckle: To laugh softly in a low tone, as
in mild amusement.
• To chortle: To give a laugh of pleasure and
satisfaction. To chuckle gleefully.
• Added connotation: exaggerated; abnormal.

He chortled with delight when I told him the

news.
There was silence for a moment, then Peter
gave a chortle.
The old man broke into a wheezy chortle of
amusement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jawmt14yZd4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZiErgtbzSU
Chuckling and perhaps giggling
would be just fine!
• To guffaw: to laugh loudly.
• Additional connotation: crude, boisterous,
coarse type of laughter.

Her remark sparked guffaws around the

room.
He managed to keep a straight face for a
minute before he let loose with a
loud guffaw.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqHn0N1FPy8
• To snigger (or snicker, Am.): To laugh quietly
at sth. that is not supposed to be funny, for
example when sb. is hurt or embarassed,
esp. because you are thinking about sth.
funny.

The teacher tripped and fell as she walked up

the steps. The boys behind her sniggered.
As he walked across the stage, Billy could
hear people snickering and whispering.
The boys tried to suppress their snigger.
 Half-suppressed
Scornful
Behind somebody’s back
• To jeer: To laugh unkindly and shout rude
things at sb.

The tennis player was booed and jeered by

the spectators when he argued with the
umpire.
The team was playing dreadfully and the
crowd jeered (at) them.
There was jeering laughter.
The speaker was interrupted by the jeers of
his audience.
• To sneer: To smile in an unpleasant or
offensive way that shows you think someone
is stupid or less good than you.
Some clients would sneer or smile
sarcastically when I showed them my old
computer, until they saw what it could do.
Most critics have sneered at the movie, calling
it dull and cheaply made.
Her mouth twisted in a contemptuous sneer.
«What’s your name?» he demanded, his lip
curling into a sneer.
• To leer: To smile in a way that is unpleasant
or threatening and that shows unwelcome
sexual interest.

My boss was a disgusting man who used to

leer at me whenever he passed by my desk.
There was a leery grin on his face.
He leaned over the girl with a leer and she
could smell the whiskey on his breath.
Some
female
employees
complained
that they
were being
leered at by
male
employees
during
lunch
breaks.
• To smirk: To smile in an unpleasant way, for
example because you are pleased about
someone else’s bad luck or because you
know sth. that they do not know.

She sits there smirking as if she’s the only

one who knows the answer.
Two men standing nearby looked at me,
nudged each other and smirked.
There was a triumphant smirk on her face.
Penny’s lips curved in a superior smirk as
he rushed from the room.
A smirk flickered at the corner of his
mouth as he watched my struggle.
Someone
with such an
air of
superiority
as Cristiano
wears a
permanent
smirk on
their face
 What are these
dummies saying? I
can´t believe such
stupid people exist!
• To cackle: To laugh loudly and unpleasantly
in a high voice, like someone who is mad, or
at sth. bad that happens to sb. else.
To make the shrill, broken cry characteristic
of a hen after laying an egg.
It is also associated with witches’ laughter.

The old lady cackled, pleased to have

produced such a dramatic reaction.
He let out a brief cackle.
We could hear cackles of amusement.
 A group of women were cackling in a corner.
A cackling witch.
He burst into cackles of laughter.
He kept laughing, cackling, making insane
remarks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B08BAHGJ_bM
An example of hilarious and contagious laughter,
not necessarily unpleasant.
The witch cackled as she contemplated her evil
spell.
She cakled her incantation/her words of contempt.
• To grin: To make a wide smile, usually
showing the teeth.
They grinned with pleasure when I gave
them the sweets.
Take/wipe that grin off your face. This is a
serious matter!
He is grinning like a Cheshire cat (=have a
big and rather silly smile).
She sat back, grinning broadly.
She was holding the baby, and grinning from
ear to ear.
Her face broke into a delighted grin.The
television camera captured his sheepish
grin as he stepped from the train.
The children grinned happily for the
photographer.
 She had a big grin on her face.
He flashed a big grin and gave us
a thumbs up.
A self-satisfied grin spread across his face.
Flashing me a grin over her shoulder, she
got into the car.
Sorry I let you down! I
forgot I had to send
you the report. Just
hope you are not too
mad at me!!!! How can
I make it up?
• To grin:
Tips about connotation: amusement, glee,
ambarsaament, or other strong emotion;
also anger or pain.

• Grin and bear it:

Put up with sth. Unpleasant without
complaining:
He doesn't like his present job but he'll just
have to grin and bear it till he finds another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQV9xVJyeaU
• To grimace: To twist one’s face in an ugly
way because one is annoyed, disgusted, or in
pain.

He started to sit up, grimaced, and sank back

weakly against the pillow.
He took another drink of his coffeee. »Awful,»
he said with a grimace.
• To beam: To smile for a long time, esp.
because you are very pleased about or
proud of sth. or sb.
Her parents stood there beaming as she
went up to receive the prize.
After the song was over, the singer beamed
at her audience.
My father sat in the first row, beaming with
pride.
They were waiting for the news, beaming
with optimism.
He beamed a cheerful welcome as he
opened the door.
 Who wouldn’t like to have Julia Roberts’s
beaming smile, one that glows and shines
with true joy and beauty?
 Tom’s parents are beaming with
pride as they pose soon after
graduation ceremony……but
he…….Is he already putting on airs,
with that newly emerging smirk ?
• To break into a smile/grin: to suddenly start
smiling:
 All at once she broke into a smile as she
remembered what had happened.
 She broke into a smile at the happy thought.

• To be all smiles: be happy and smile a lot:

 I don’t understand. He was all smiles this
morning and now he won’t talk to me.

• Somebody’s face lights up: they suddenly look

happy, for example because they have received
good news:
 He gave her the letter and watched as her face
lit up.
• To grow/spread (across/over sth.):
 Her smile grew radiant.
 A gentle smile spread over her face.

• To crease into:
 His face creased into a smile.
 He had long laugh lines that creased from the
corners of his eyes all the way down to his
narrow strip of beard.

• To wipe the smile off sb.’s face: make sb. stop

thinking sth. is funny:
 I’m going to wipe that smile off your face!
REMINDER: REMEMBER TO CLICK ONLY ONCE TO MOVE TO THE NEXT
SLIDE. YOU DONT’T WANT TO REVEAL THE ANSWER YET!
Jack began laughing again,
and this time his

had an edge of madness to it.

CHORTLE SNIGGER CHUCKLE

A great market for an eco-friendly
approach is wrapping paper. Though
many of us can remember, with a

, watching relatives
open gifts painstakingly slowly to " save
the paper, " the vast majority of gift
wrap is ripped off,balled up, and tossed
in the trash.

BEAM CHUCKLE GRIN

Jordan showed a less than flattering side of himself
during group auditions by minimizing the talent of
others when searching for new group members. His
superior when asked

about how he may have insulted others, further

demonstrated that Jordan is quite secure with his own
musical talents and does not privilege smooth
interpersonal relationships over his personal
satisfaction.

GRIMACE GRIN SMIRK

She flattened herself against the mattress and
listened as somebody stepped into the hallway and
closed the door behind them. She strained to hear
through the thick oak door, but the music from the
hotel bar masked the voices in the hall. She lowered
the sheet an inch and peeked over the hem. The oil
lamp flickered against the ivory wall, casting
shadows through the gloom as a sinister

reached her ears.

CHORTLE SMIRK CACKLE

The new student’s brown eyes are busy
and smart, while the tiny mouth wears a
perpetual

, as if the world
around him is both humorous and
contemptible, in equal measures.

BEAM SMIRK CHORTLE

In the glimmer of red lamp light, there was a young
girl waiting for someone everybody knew would
not come. She was pacing from window to window
wringing her hands, red blotches covering her
cheeks and eyelashes ridiculously heavy under
excessive mascara. The boys behind the bar began
to

GIGGLE SNIGGER CHORTLE

My unnaturally gentle and accepting reaction had
more to do with the stranger's reassuring looks
than with common sense. The intruder wore a
very expensive suit and a gold watch. Generously
allowing me a few moments to compose my
thoughts, the stranger continued to

at me, his tilted face just a few inches from mine.

Then he reached into a coat pocket and pulled out
a business card.

CHORTLE SNIGGER BEAM

The old man was trembling with cold. His skin
was so brittle it threatened to crack and flake
away at the joints. His grandson gently put a
dark cloak over his granddad’s bony shoulders
and asked him if it felt better. " Yes, " the old
man said with a toothy

."

BEAM GRIN CHUCKLE

It still brought tears to her eyes to look at that photo.
She had just gotten back from her honeymoon, and
she felt beautiful in those pictures. She was

, and she must have felt like a goddess.

BEAMING CHORTLING GRINNING