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chortle

noun
/ˈt͡ʃɔɹtəl/US

Etymology

Perhaps a blend of chuckle + snort. Coined by Lewis Carroll in his poem Jabberwocky, completed in 1855 but only introduced to the public in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass.

  1. inherited from fnora
  2. inherited from *fnorettan✻
  3. inherited from snorten
  4. compounded as chortle — “chuckle + snort”

Definitions

  1. A joyful, somewhat muffled laugh, rather like a snorting chuckle.

    • He frequently interrupted himself with chortles while he told us his favorite joke.

  2. A similar sounding vocalisation of various birds.

  3. To laugh with a chortle or chortles.

    • The old fellow chortled as he recalled his youthful adventures.
    • 'O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for chortle. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA