Chortled

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To produce a joyful laugh that often features a snort as an expression of delight or amusement
2. To emit a sound of happiness that merges cheerful laughter with a snorting tone
3. To laugh with a mixture of joy and a snorting sound, usually showing amusement or pleasure

Etymology: Lewis Carroll invented "chortle" himself, and it entered the language through a nonsense poem. He wrote "Jabberwocky" in 1855, and its closing stanza describes the hero returning home with the monster's head and the line "he chortled in his joy." The poem was published in 1871 in "Through the Looking-Glass," which is when the word reached general readers. The word is generally thought to be a blend of "chuckle" and "snort," which fits its sound: a laugh with a snort tucked inside it. Carroll never offered a definition in the book, so the sense we use today grew out of the context of the poem's triumphant hero and the readers who adopted the word afterward. "Chortled" is simply the past tense of "chortle," so it carries the same origin.

Synonyms: giggled, chuckled, snickered

Antonyms: wept, sobbed