Meaning & use
giggled
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“giggled” is a form of “giggle”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
verbintransitive
Laughed in a light, silly, or nervous way, often with short repeated sounds.
Grammar: No object; the person who laughs is the subject: She giggled at the joke.
Patterns
- giggle at something
- giggle about something
- giggle with someone
The children giggled at the funny face their teacher made.
She giggled nervously when she forgot her lines on stage.
We giggled about the mistake all the way home.
Word forms
| base form | giggle |
|---|---|
| third person singular | giggles |
| present participle | giggling |
| past tense | giggled |
| past participle | giggled |
Common combinations
- giggle nervously
- He giggled nervously during the interview.
- giggle at
- The girls giggled at the cartoon.
- giggle with
- They giggled with each other behind the teacher's back.
- start to giggle
- She started to giggle and couldn't stop.
Synonyms and how they differ
- chuckle
- A chuckle is a quiet, warm laugh, often alone, while a giggle is higher and more repeated, often shared.
- laugh
- Laugh is the general word for any laughing sound; giggle is a specific light, silly laugh.
- snicker
- Snicker suggests laughing quietly and unkindly at someone, while giggle is usually more innocent or nervous.
Word family
- giggle noun
- A light, repeated laugh: She had a fit of the giggles.
- giggly adjective
- Laughing easily and often in a silly way: The children were giggly after the party.
Commonly confused: giggled or gargled?
giggled vs gargled
Gargled means washed the throat with liquid and made a bubbling sound; giggle is only about laughing.
Practice
Choose the correct form: The baby ___ when I tickled her tummy.
Choose one answer.
The sentence is in the past tense, so the past form 'giggled' is correct. 'Giggle' is the base form and does not fit after a past-time sentence; 'giggling' needs a helping verb like 'was'; 'giggles' is present tense and would need a different time.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “giggled”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.