Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To laugh hard, loudly, or convulsively; guffaw.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To indulge in loud, continued laughter; to laugh immoderately.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive To laugh loudly, immoderately, or too often.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb laugh loudly and in an unrestrained way

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin cachinnāre, cachinnāt-, of imitative origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin cacchinō ("laugh aloud"), an onomatopoeia.

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Examples

  • I think I shall have a mighty awesome night tonight .... and may even tell u all about it tomorrow ... (hmm perhaps not ALL) * cachinnate* relinquished - curiosity

    phelicity Diary Entry phelicity 2000

  • They reach at once and directly the instinctive sense of the ludicrous, and over them youth and age cachinnate together.

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 37, November, 1860 Various

  • But, heigho! some fly or other is the indispensable adjunct of every pot of ointment, and while I was still jumping for joy at having passed the steep barrier of such a Rubicon, there came a letter from Miss JESSIMINA which constrained me to cachinnate upon the wrong side of nose!

    Baboo Jabberjee, B.A. F. Anstey 1895

  • Every time you take a full breath, or when you cachinnate well, the diaphragm descends and gives the stomach an extra squeeze and shakes it.

    Cheerfulness as a Life Power Orison Swett Marden 1887

Comments

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  • to laugh loudly and raucously; to guffaw (especially in an exceptionally irritating manner)

    December 2, 2008