(v. i.) A movement (usually involuntary) of the muscles of the face, particularly of the lips, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction, or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs. See Laugh, v. i.
Example Sentences:
(1) "Enuresis risoria" or "giggle incontinence" is a particular condition characterized by a sudden, involuntary, uncontrollable and complete emptying of the bladder during giggling or hearty laughter.
(2) Their hearty laughter far surpassed any private hopes of entertaining this endearingly stodgy bunch.
(3) It’s even slower than the public service” (much laughter) “and it’s all stage managed”.
(4) Foreign aid, NHS queues, he pressed hot button prejudices, interrupted other speakers, his quick wit won both laughter and applause.
(5) It felt just amazing.” But there was laughter when it was suggested that she might extend that record by a few days with gold in the 5,000m.
(6) "Thank you for coming, despite some of the hiccups we have had," Tutu said to laughter and applause at St George's Cathedral, Cape Town.
(7) Earlier Davies had raised laughter in the Grimond Room in Westminster's Portcullis House when he asked the judge, recently promoted to president of the Queen's Bench Division, whether he had any "regrets" about his report.
(8) Perhaps the only thing Katie does get to take home is her antipathy to laughter.
(9) When President Obama stands up and says - as he did when he addressed the nation in February 2011 about Libya - that "the United States will continue to stand up for freedom, stand up for justice, and stand up for the dignity of all people", it should trigger nothing but a scornful fit of laughter, not credulous support (by the way, not that anyone much cares any more, but here's what is happening after the Grand Success of the Libya Intervention: "Tribal and historical loyalties still run deep in Libya, which is struggling to maintain central government control in a country where armed militia wield real power and meaningful systems of law and justice are lacking after the crumbling of Gaddafi's eccentric personal rule").
(10) He is part of a travelling circus, certainly, but the laughter stopped a little while ago.
(11) Behind us we could still hear shooting, the screams, the laughter of the bastard as he shot, and his shout to us: "You won't get away!"
(12) Laughter is a partly involuntary act involving complex pathways in the central nervous system.
(13) That is why I am not the leader of the Labour party,” he said, to laughter and a round of applause.
(14) One patient had precocious puberty, epileptic laughter, and abnormal behavior; the other had cerebral seizures.
(15) This is what we imagined: the becalmed beauty of the Whitsunday Passage, that spectacular collection of islands protectively nestled inside the Great Barrier Reef, safe from prevailing winds; bright blue languid days gliding over turquoise waters, taking turns at the tiller in our togs; finding our own private cove as the sun goes down; diving into warm pristine waters; the tinkling of intimate laughter; the fizz of champagne and the sizzle of prawns on the barbie.
(16) There was laughter, but the room at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles fell silent as it appeared Foster, 50, had a serious point to make.
(17) But, she appeared to leave the door open to a possible eventual return, adding to laughter from the crowd that "everyone always says that when they leave these jobs".
(18) In a move that sparked laughter and jeers in the Commons, the shadow chancellor pulled out a copy of the Quotations from Chairman Mao to make a point about George Osborne’s attempts to sell off state assets to the Chinese.
(19) With the eight lanes of France’s most famous avenue cleared of all traffic on Paris’s first car-free day , the usual cacophony of car-revving and thundering motorbike engines had given way to the squeak of bicycle wheels, the clatter of skateboards, the laughter of children on rollerblades and even the gentle rustling of wind in the trees.
(20) Nanu Nanu LG x August 12, 2014 Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) Rest in Peace+Laughter Robin Williams.
Merriment
Definition:
(n.) Gayety, with laughter; mirth; frolic.
Example Sentences:
(1) That merriment is not just tankards and quaintness and mimsy Morris dancing, but a witty, angry and tender fire at the centre of Englishness.
(2) Christmas is a time for joy, celebration and bringing together family and friends to share this merriment.
(3) They are the only couple from the state dinner to get their picture on the front page of the Washington Post, and they were the source of a mix of merriment at their daring and alarmist speculation on the morning television shows about what would have happened if they had been Islamist extremists.
(4) For a long time, for me, one of the best things about the new year and Christmas was that it was a time for socially acceptable drunkenness, an occasion when even falling-over-in-the-street-drunkenness would be tolerated in the name of festive merriment.
(5) Back in 1776, the sage of Kirkcaldy noted: "People of the same trade seldom meet together even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices."
(6) The central characters of the show entitled "Health and Merriment" were: the housewife Larimunda, the druggist Salim, and the clowns Banziero, Xulex, and Primentinha.
(7) If you are visiting Denmark around 23-24 June, you are likely to be invited to gather round a huge beach bonfire with much drinking, eating, singing and merriment.
(8) A young couple, screeching with merriment, went past on their way to a bar or nightclub.
(9) I have no idea what "real sex" is and even less after reading the Mumsnet thread of the bedside 'penis beaker' (a dunking cup for hygiene purposes that has caused much merriment online ).
(10) Not just to remember how to pronounce "caxirola", but for general merriment.
(11) Dennis was beloved by his friends for his originality as a poet, his acuity as a critic, his probity and courage and merriment as a man.
(12) The effect is of a party recently ended, of a room still ringing with merriment, laughter and dancing.
(13) This tour of royal duty presumably produced the desired effect – positive media reporting – no doubt resulting in much merriment among the corridors of the royal household.
(14) Along with the origins on the South Bank, the merriment at the fact that funds are so tight, Walker often has to take the bus … It all suggests difference of the wrong kind: that the life experiences of Mayer, Toksvig and Walker may be alienatingly divergent from the people they want to reach.
(15) In the end, our futile midwinter merriment comes from the heart.
(16) It took Bryan Cranston four nominations to finally nab best actor, drama, for his role as the teacher-turned-druglord Walter White; on collecting his award, Cranston drily suggested that the exposure would bring the show's "mirth and merriment" to the world.
(17) After 2000, they are almost always funny, extended merriment concerning trousers with elasticated waistbands and grumpiness about modern music.
(18) Even opposition MPs realised today that the launch of IDS's Cunning Plan was not a day for merriment.
(19) But it’s not only musical merriment that revs up the crowds at its flagship London night at Koko: Rowley swoops in on new cabaret talent, too.