giggle
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Unknown. Perhaps a frequentative based on dialectal English gig (“to creak”), from Middle English gigen (“to make a creaking sound”) + -le; or perhaps of Dutch or Low German origin: compare Saterland Frisian güüchelje (“to giggle”), West Frisian giechelje (“to giggle”), Dutch giechelen (“to giggle”), German Low German giecheln (“to giggle”), dialectal German giggln, gigglen (“to giggle”), German gickeln (“to giggle”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
giggle (third-person singular simple present giggles, present participle giggling, simple past and past participle giggled)
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- To laugh gently in a nervous or affected manner.
- The jokes had them giggling like little girls all evening.
Synonyms[edit]
- (laugh in a silly way): titter
- See also Thesaurus:laugh
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
laugh
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Noun[edit]
giggle (plural giggles)
- A high-pitched, silly laugh.
- (informal) Fun; an amusing episode.
- We put itching powder down his shirt for giggles.
- The women thought it would be quite a giggle to have a strippergram at the bride's hen party.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
laugh
informal: amusement
Categories:
- English terms with unknown etymologies
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- English words suffixed with -le
- English terms derived from Dutch
- English terms derived from Low German
- English 2-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/ɪɡəl
- Rhymes:English/ɪɡəl/2 syllables
- English lemmas
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- Entries with audio examples
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- English nouns
- English countable nouns
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- en:Laughter