haw-haw

plural haw-haws

1. alternativeAlternative form of ha-ha (a ditch acting as a sunken fence)

   […] there were three hundred yards or so of meadow ending in a haw-haw, and then a low courtyard wall.

   2015, Matthew De Abaitua, If Then

   1 more example

   One line of steps we traced from the spot to the haw-haw; they were very distinct upon the turf; the heel was toward the haw-haw, the toe toward the spot where the murder was committed.

   1847, George Payne Rainsford James, A Whim and Its Consequences

1. alternativeAlternative form of ha ha (“laughter”) (sometimes suggesting an upper-class British accent)

   "Bless thy simplicity, Tess," said her companions. "He's got his market-nitch. Haw-haw!"

   1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 19

present singular third person haw-haws · participle present haw-hawing · participle past haw-hawed · past haw-hawed

1. alternativeAlternative form of ha-ha (“to laugh”).