have a laugh

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

have a laugh (third-person singular simple present has a laugh, present participle having a laugh, simple past and past participle had a laugh)

1. To laugh.

   It was awkward at the time, but later we all had a laugh about it.

2. (UK, Ireland, idiomatic) To joke; kid around.

   Coordinate term: take the mickey

   Near-synonym: have (someone) on

   Some of the kids had a laugh and put glue on the teacher's chair.

   Fifty quid for that piece of junk? You're having a laugh!

3. (UK, Ireland, idiomatic) To enjoy oneself; have fun.

   We had a great laugh yesterday at the funfair.

Translations

to laugh

• Finnish: nauraa (fi)
• Icelandic: hlæja (is)

UK: to kid around

• Finnish: pilailla (fi), juksata (fi)
• Icelandic: grínast, spauga (is), gera að gamni sínu
• Spanish: echarse unas risas (Spain, colloquial)

UK: to enjoy oneself

• Icelandic: skemmta sér (is), gleðjast (is)

See also

• kicks-and-giggles

Further reading

• “you re having a laugh”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “are you having a laugh” (US) / “are you having a laugh” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.