chuckle

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃʌkəl/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

  Rhymes: -ʌkəl

Etymology 1

From chuck +‎ -le.

Noun

chuckle (plural chuckles)

1. A quiet laugh.

   Synonyms: chortle, giggle, snigger, titter; see also Thesaurus:laugh

Translations

a quiet laugh

• Bulgarian: кискане (bg) n (kiskane), хихикане (bg) (hihikane)
• Dutch: gegrinnik (nl)
• French: ricanerie (fr) f, ricanement (fr)
• German: Kichern (de) n
• Hungarian: kuncogás (hu)
• Ido: kluko (io)
• Japanese: くすくす笑い (くすくすわらい, kusu-kusu warai)
• Norwegian: klukklatter m
• Polish: chichot (pl) m
• Romanian: chicot (ro) n
• Russian: хихи́канье (ru) n (xixíkanʹje)
• Vietnamese: cười khúc khích

Verb

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

1. To laugh quietly or inwardly.
2. (transitive) To communicate through chuckling.

   She chuckled her assent to my offer as she got in the car.

3. (intransitive, archaic) To make the sound of a chicken; to cluck.
4. (transitive, archaic) To call together, or call to follow, as a hen calls her chickens; to cluck.
   • 1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):

     if these Birds are within distance, here's that will chuckle 'em together

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

Synonyms

• (to laugh quietly): see also Thesaurus:laugh
• (to fondle): grope, pet, touch up; see also Thesaurus:fondle
• (to pamper): coddle, posset; see also Thesaurus:pamper

Translations

to laugh quietly or inwardly

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: кискам се (kiskam se), хихикам (bg) (hihikam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 暗笑 (zh) (ànxiào)

• Dutch: grinniken (nl)
• Esperanto: subridi
• Finnish: hekottaa (fi), myhäillä (fi)
• French: ricaner (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: kichern (de)
• Hebrew: גִּחֵךְ (he) (giẖéch)
• Hungarian: kuncog (hu)
• Ido: klukar (io)
• Inupiaq: хихи́кати impf
• Japanese: けらけら笑う (けらけらわらう, kerakera warau)
• Kannada: pisu nagu
• Khmer: សើចក្នុងពោះ (saǝc knoŋ pʊəh), សើចលាក់ (saǝc leak)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: klukkle, småle, sitte og more seg
• Polish: chichotać (pl)
• Portuguese: gracejar (pt)
• Romanian: chicoti (ro)
• Russian: хихи́кать (ru) impf (xixíkatʹ), хихи́кнуть (ru) pf (xixíknutʹ), посме́иваться (ru) impf (posméivatʹsja), усмехаться (ru) impf (usmexatʹsja), усмехнуться (ru) pf (usmexnutʹsja)
• Spanish: reír entre dientes
• Swedish: skrocka (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: cười khúc khích

to make the sound of chicken

• Bulgarian: кудкудякам (kudkudjakam)
• Dutch: kakelen (nl)
• Finnish: kaakattaa (fi)
• French: glousser (fr)
• Norwegian: klukke
• Romanian: cotcodăci (ro)
• Russian: куда́хтать (ru) impf (kudáxtatʹ)
• Spanish: cocorear, cacarear (es)
• Swedish: kackla (sv)

Etymology 2

Perhaps from chock (“a log”).

Adjective

chuckle (comparative more chuckle, superlative most chuckle)

1. (obsolete) Clumsy.

Derived terms

• chucklehead