underlaugh
nounEtymology Probably derived from Middle English underlaughen (“to smile; smile with the eyes”), Middle English underlaughteren (“to smirk”), equivalent to under- + laugh.
1
A suppressed laugh
- John Joy Tree greeted this with an ugly underlaugh, a barely audible sound which made Casher feel the whole situation was ridiculous.1964, Galaxy Magazine - Volume 23, Issues 1-6, page 52:
- “A stretcher case, surely,” he added, and an underlaugh rippled through the ranks and files.2011, Ward McBurney, Sap's War:
2 more examples
- So in this specific role, in this specific scene, my fontal rush of propulsive fear, my prickly self-strickenness, and my strangled underlaugh that was (and still is) a result of what Sigmund Freud identified as the “liminal dilemma between the intense desire for supplication and the concurrent need for masochistic provocation” all combined to create an illusion of a brilliant stage presence, bursting with potential and future possibility.2012, Dana Spiotta, Stone Arabia, page 11:
- Campbell laughed a quiet under-laugh, half sad, half humorous.2013, Charles Kingsley, Delphi Complete Works of Charles Kingsley:
- Related terms
- underlaughter, church giggles