underlaughter
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Probably derived from Middle English underlaughteren (“to smirk”), Middle English underlaughen (“to smile; smile with the eyes”), equivalent to under- + laughter.
Noun[edit]
underlaughter (uncountable)
- Suppressed laughter or laughing
- 1922, Berta Ruck, The Subconscious Courtship, page 340:
- “Of course I am, thank you,” said Clover in a voice which also he would hardly have recognized, so gay was it with a ripple of underlaughter.
- 1985, Daniel Albright, Lyricality in English literature, page 126:
- Herrick could not guide Corinna, and Pope could not guide Mrs. Blount, into a definite, satisfying image because their ladies were too multiform and subtle, too likely to recede into airy sourire, underlaughter, to permit any resolution, any pinning tot he wall; […]