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Glite Dictionary
laughing gear

laughing gear

1 9.9
A person's mouth and their ability to speak or make happy sounds
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : boca
  • He always has his laughing gear ready for a joke.

Examples

  • Don't forget to use your laughing gear at the party!

  • She wiped the crumbs off her laughing gear after eating the cake.

  • Bring your laughing gear if you want to enjoy the night!

  • He broke out his laughing gear when he heard the comedian's joke.

  • He opened his laughing gear to tell a funny joke at the party.

  • Whenever she is happy, her laughing gear gets a workout.

  • The comedian had the audience roaring with laughter as his laughing gear never stopped moving.

Synonyms

laughing tackle
vslaughing gear
  • UK
9.9

A person's special laugh that makes other people smile

refers to the mouth or general ability to speak or laugh not the laugh itself

Antonyms

silent
257 1.0

Not making any sound

mute
20 4.1

Not using speech, often shown by a look or gesture

Surface Forms

laughing gear singular
laughing gears plural

Morphology

laugh + gear

Although 'laughing' clearly points to the domain of laughter or speaking, 'gear' normally means 'equipment' and does not straightforwardly denote a body part or ability; the use of 'gear' to mean 'mouth' is a slang/metaphorical extension. This idiomatic, culture-specific mapping is partly inferable (it signals something to do with laughing) but the precise meaning ('mouth' or 'ability to speak/laugh') is not predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure.

Etymology

Laughing gear may come from the idea of gear as 'equipment' and laughing as the action you do with your mouth. Imagine your mouth and voice as the equipment you use to laugh, so laughing gear came to mean 'mouth' or the 'ability to laugh'.