Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Loud or immoderate laughter.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Loud or immoderate laughter; -- often a symptom of hysterical or maniacal affections.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Convulsive, loud laughter.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun loud convulsive laughter

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From cachinnate +‎ -ion

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Examples

  • A good stomp from the two-clown-long-horn followed by an "Oooohooowee my aching bunions!" used to raise roaring cachinnation.

    Archive 2006-04-02 Miss Snark 2006

  • The man began to laugh behind his moustaches, the which cachinnation was checked by an appealing look from the young lady; and he held out his hand and said,

    The Kickleburys on the Rhine 2006

  • The hammer fell with a crash that re-echoed deafeningly and shivered off through the black jungle in a strangely altered cachinnation.

    People of the Dark Howard, Robert E. 2005

  • This is where you sit in a circle and go head-to-head in a singdown to see which parents know the most lyrics, which ones can fake their way through a song the best, and whose child can outdo all others in oscillating cachinnation dictionary.com.

    Music Review: Circle Time | Thingamababy 2005

  • Meanwhile, the royal cachinnation was echoed out by a discordant and portentous laugh from behind the arras, like that of one who, little accustomed to give way to such emotions, feels himself at some particular impulse unable either to control or to modify his obstreperous mirth.

    The Fortunes of Nigel 2004

  • It was Dame Alice indulging in a wild cachinnation on her hunting horn.

    Death of a Fool Marsh, Ngaio, 1895-1982 1956

  • There arose from behind some nearby bushes a shrill cachinnation and out waddled a gaggle of purposeful geese.

    Death of a Fool Marsh, Ngaio, 1895-1982 1956

  • But it is perfectly absurd and improbable, done in the manner in which it is represented -- not therefore to be blamed, but therefore to be commended with cachinnation while the world endures.

    Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 58, Number 358, August 1845 Various

  • Just as his foot touched the deck the instrument gave forth its unholy cachinnation of "Ha! Ha! Ha!" in the high nasal tones peculiar to its kind.

    Golden Stories A Selection of the Best Fiction by the Foremost Writers Various

  • The stoker laughed truculently, and Billy ventured upon a faint echo of the jeering cachinnation.

    Golden Stories A Selection of the Best Fiction by the Foremost Writers Various

Comments

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  • from the Ring and the Book.

    October 1, 2007

  • And then did my excellent friend Mr. Smooth-it-away laugh outright, in the midst of which cachinnation a smoke-wreath issued from his mouth and nostrils, while a twinkle of lurid flame darted out of either eye, proving indubitably that his heart was all of a red blaze. The impudent fiend! To deny the existence of Tophet, when he felt its fiery tortures raging within his breast.

    -Hawthorne, The Celestial Railroad (a parody of Pilgrim's Progress)

    August 15, 2008

  • JM waits for the evening cachinnation welling up from within

    October 24, 2009

  • If life is a trail of woe and care

    Refresh with abderian fare.

    A strong inclination

    To loud cachinnation

    Will serve to displace your despair.

    November 24, 2015