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哄堂大笑 (hōng táng dà xiào) — the whole room roaring with laughter (idiom)

Definition

An idiom for the whole room bursting into laughter at once. 欢声笑语 describes a sustained joyful, noisy atmosphere, while 哄堂大笑 is a single burst of laughter triggered by something funny.

phrase
the whole room roaring with laughter (idiom)

Examples

  • 哄堂大笑。
    Xiǎo wáng de xiàng sheng ràng quán chǎng hōng táng dà xiào.
    Xiao Wang's cross-talk made the whole audience roar with laughter.
  • ，哄堂大笑。
    Tā jiǎng le gè xiào hua, dòu dé dà jiā hōng táng dà xiào.
    He told a joke and made everyone burst into laughter.
  • 哄堂大笑。
    Jiào shì lǐ tū rán chuán lái yí zhèn hōng táng dà xiào.
    Suddenly, a burst of roaring laughter came from the classroom.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

哄堂the whole room
哄hǒngroaring堂tánghall
偏正Modifier + head
大笑laugh loudly
大dàloudly笑xiàolaugh
偏正Modifier + head

哄堂 names the room full of people, and 大笑 says they laugh loudly.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
共
共gòng哄hōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

哄 is made from 口, the mouth part, and 共, the part that gives its sound.

Open 哄 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
尚
尚shàng堂táng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

堂 uses 土 as a ground/earth part and 尚 for sound.

Open 堂 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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