大笑 (dà xiào) — to laugh loudly; to roar with laughter | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

大笑 (dàxiào) is a formal/literary verb for 'laughing loudly' — more emphatic than everyday 笑, and usually for a single event rather than habitual laughter.

verb

to laugh loudlyto roar with laughter

Examples

，大笑。
Tā tīng dào zhè ge xiào hua, rěn bú zhù dà xiào qǐ lái.
When he heard the joke, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.
大笑。
Guān zhòng men bèi tā de biǎo yǎn dòu dé dà xiào.
The audience was amused by his performance and laughed loudly.
大笑，。
Tā dà xiào le jǐ shēng, zhuǎn shēn lí kāi le fáng jiān.
She let out a few loud laughs, then turned and left the room.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

大dàbig/loudly

大 adds the sense of loudness to 笑, giving laugh loudly.

Characters in this word

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.

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

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.

Appears in

Emotions & Feelings

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