to titter
3
7.4
- verb
- /ˈtɪtər/
:
reírse nerviosamente
- The other students titter, and Matt, tough as I know he will eventually get, manages a weak smile and shrug.
- tittered nervously
- began to titter
- the audience tittered
If I say polar bears are left-handed, do the joke, they titter, then I do the polar bear being left-handed, that it's, it's like they're seeing it.
- If I say polar bears are left-handed, do the joke, they titter, then I do the polar bear being left-handed, that it's, it's like they're seeing it.
Examples
-
The Japanese man waved at him and smiled, and his two women tittered behind their fingers.
Fiction book (1999) -
The audience began to titter nervously when the speaker stumbled over his words.
-
Two women standing nearby begin to titter, as though the man had said something obscene.
Fiction book (1996) -
Drew does, and they take off, the girls from the school tittering as they drive off.
Fiction book (1991) -
Someone tittered, and she thought of how she must look: fat and furious.
Fiction book (1994) -
Jack whispers his plan; they titter, half-whispering themselves.
Fiction book (1993) -
Ella looked as if she were about to tell the truth, then she tittered.
Fiction book (1994) -
Oh, how the other RNs tittered in their gossipy way.
Fiction book (2002) -
My mother tittered, but eyed me with her "you'll pay for that later" look.
Fiction book (1999) -
Ashema translates this for her friends, and they titter anew.
Fiction book (1991)
Synonyms
237
2.0
To laugh quietly to yourself when something is slightly funny
153
1.0
Laugh in a silly or nervous way with short high sounds
27
4.0
To laugh quietly in a partly hidden way at something rude
3
1.9
To make a quiet sound because something is funny so you do not disturb others
To manage a short laugh when you feel surprised or shocked
Antonyms
How Amused
Surface Forms
Etymology
Titter as a verb likely comes from that same quiet 'ti-ti' sound, so to titter is to give a 'short, nervous laugh' quietly, much like trying not to laugh out loud.