Ways of crying

WAYS OF CRYING

• cry: produce tears from your eyes, usually because you are unhappy or hurt.
  Please stop crying, Paul!
• burst into tears: suddenly start crying.
  When her boyfriend told her the truth, she burst into tears and ran out.
• break down in tears: suddenly cry a lot, after trying not to cry.
  After reading his letter, she broke down in tears.
• be close to tears/on the verge of tears: be about to cry.
  When she heard his voice on the phone, she was close to tears.
• have tears in one's eyes: be about to cry.
  When I said goodbye, I had tears in my eyes.
• shed tears: cry.
  I must admit I shed a few tears when the school closed.
• be in tears: be crying.
  The children were all in tears when our dog disappeared.
• be in floods of tears: (UK) cry a lot.
  The children were in floods of tears when our dog disappeared.
• be moved to tears: be so upset that you start to cry.
  A lot of people were moved to tears by his story.
• weep: cry a lot for a long time.
  The kids wept bitterly when it was time to leave.
• cry one's eyes/heart out: be extremely sad and cry a lot.
  After the robbery, she cried her heart out.
• bawl: (a baby) cry very loudly.
  We could hear the baby bawling upstairs.
• sob: cry noisily, with sudden noisy breaths.
  He began sobbing uncontrollably.
• your eyes water: you start to cry, especially because there is a lot of smoke or because you have been cutting up onions.
  There was so much smoke in that room that my eyes were watering.

Ways of laughing

WAYS OF LAUGHING

• laugh: express joy by making a sound, moving the face or body.
  She splashed water on Nick and we all began laughing.
• chuckle: laugh quietly, because you are thinking about something funny.
  What are you chuckling about? I don't see anything funny.
• giggle: laugh quietly and repeatedly because you are nervous or embarrassed.
  She spilt the wine on the tablecloth and then giggled nervously at me.
• give somebody the giggles: make somebody start giggling.
• titter: laugh quietly, unkindly at something embarrassing.
  After she ended the lecture, she heard someone tittering.
• snigger (GB) / snicker (US): laugh quietly, unkindly at something that is not supposed to be funny.
  When the teacher tripped on the steps, the boys sniggered.
• roar / howl / shriek with laughter: laugh very loudly.
  It was such a good comedy that when it finished, he was still roaring with laughter.
• chortle: give a loud chuckle of pleasure or amusement.
  When I told her the joke, she started to chortle with delight.
• cackle: laugh loudly in a high voice.
  When I told her the joke, she started cackling and couldn't stop!
• guffaw: laugh noisily.
  They guffawed at what their baby had done.
• jeer: laugh at somebody or shout unkind things at them.
  The president was jeered by a crowd of protesters.
• burst into laughter: suddenly start laughing.
  The class burst into laughter.
• laugh your head off: (informal) laugh a lot and loudly.
  He told us a joke after another, and we laughed our heads off!
• smile: make one's mouth curve upwards, in order to be friendly or because one is happy.
  As the boy left, he smiled at his mother and waved.
• beam: smile very happily.
  The mother looked at her son and beamed proudly.
• grin: smile widely.
  When she knew she had won the prize, she grinned broadly.
• simper: smile in a silly and annoying way.
  He simpered at the boys as he spoke.
• smirk: smile in an unpleasant way, to show that you are pleased by somebody's bad luck.
  The kids smirked when the teacher fell on the floor.
• sneer: smile in an unkind way, showing no respect for somebody.
  She sneered at his boyfriend's musical tastes.

Related idioms

• laugh in somebody's face: to behave in a way that shows no respect for others.
  I told her my opinion and she just laughed in my face.
• be laughing all the way to the bank: make a lot of money without making much effort.
• somebody will be laughing on the other side of your face: used to mean that although you are happy now, you will be in trouble later.
• be laughed out of court (US): be rejected because people think it is completely stupid.
  His idea was laughed out of court.
• laugh up your sleeve: be secretly happy because you played a trick on somebody or you criticized somebody without him knowing.
• laugh something off: pretend that something is less serious than it really is by laughing about it.
  The president laughed off rumors that he would resign.
• laugh like a drain: laugh heartily.
  John liked my joke so much, he laughed like a drain.

Ways of talking

WAYS OF SPEAKING

• speak: make use of words in a normal voice.
  May I speak to George?
• talk: speak to give information, say things.
  What are they talking about?
• hesitate: be slow to speak (or act) because one is uncertain or unwilling to talk.
  He hesitated before answering my question.
• whisper: speak softly, without vibrating the vocal cords, privately or secretly.
  She whispered the secret word in my ear.
• hiss: say something in a loud whisper. (Snakes also hiss).
  'Get out!' she hissed at me furiously.
• mumble: speak unclearly, so that others can't hear.
  He mumbled something at me which I didn't understand.
• mutter: speak in a low voice, which is hard to hear.
  She was muttering something to herself as she went out.
• murmur: speak in a soft, quiet voice that is difficult to hear clearly.
  The classmates murmured during the test.
• hum: make a low continuous sound, when you take a long time deciding what to say.
  She hummed at the beginning of the oral exam.
• grunt: make short sounds or say a few words in a rough voice, when you don't want to talk. (Pigs also grunt).
  She grunted a few words and left the table.
• stammer: speak with pauses and repeating the same sound or syllable, habitually or from fear or excitement.
  'P-p-please give me the p-p-pen,' he stammered.
• stutter: stammer.
  'P-p-please give me the p-p-pen,' he stuttered.
• quaver: speak tremulously, because you are nervous or upset.
  Her voice quavered for a moment but then she regained control.
• lisp: speak with /th/ sounds instead of /s/ sounds.
  You're very thilly, Thimon. (You're very silly, Simon.)
• babble = gabble: talk foolishly, in a way difficult to understand.
  Her fever made her babble without stopping.
• ramble: talk continuously, in a confused way.
  Stop rambling and get to the point, please!
• slur: speak unclearly, without separating the words correctly.
  He was so drunk that he slurred to the bartender for more.
• chat: have a friendly informal conversation.
  They chatted away in the corner.
• chatter: talk quickly and at length about something unimportant.
  Please stop chattering, I'm trying to listen to the TV!
• gossip: talk about the affairs of other people.
  She was gossiping about her neighbours all day.
• call: speak in a loud clear voice, shout, cry.
  They called for help.
• shout: speak in a loud voice, in anger or to get attention.
  He had to shout because the music was too loud.
• whoop: shout loudly and happily.
  The children whooped when we entered the fair.
• cry (out): make a sharp noise, in pain or surprise.
  She cried out in terror when the old man appeared suddenly.
• yell: cry out loudly, in fear, pain or excitement.
  She yelled in terror when she saw the dead cat.
• scream: cry out very loudly on a high note, in fear, pain, anger or laughter.
  The baby was screaming the whole day.
• shriek: scream.
  The men shrieked with laughter.
• bellow: shout in a deep voice.
  The captain bellowed orders at the crew.
• squeak: speak in a high-pitched voice.
  She squeaked out a few words nervously.
• squeal: speak in a high-pitched voice, with longer and louder sounds than in a squeak.
  'Let me go!' she squealed.
• whine: complain in a sad, annoying voice about something.
  'I don't want to go,' whined Peter.
• chirp / chirrup (GB): speak in a happy high voice.
  'All finished!' she chirped.
• cheer: shout because of happiness.
  The public cheered when the team appeared.
• croak: speak with a deep hoarse voice.
  She had such a terrible cold that she could only croak.
• blurt out: say something suddenly and tactlessly.
  She blurted out the bad news before I could stop her.
• snap: say something quickly in an angry way.
  'What do you want?' the waiter snapped.
• splutter: talk quickly in short confused phrases, in anger or surprise.
  'But... what... where... how could you?' she spluttered.
• bark (out): say something quickly in a loud voice.
  'What do you want?' the shop assistant barked.

Related verbs

emit - communicate - pronounce - announce - mention - relate - narrate - retell - report - butt in - interrupt - discuss - argue - lecture - preach - define - state - assert- clarify - declare

Ways of walking

WAYS OF WALKING

• walk: move on one's feet.
  We walked to town.
• limp: walk unevenly because one leg is hurt.
  That man is hurt, he's limping.
• hobble: walk with difficulty.
  The old man hobbled along the street with the aid of his stick.
• stagger: walk unsteadily as if about to fall.
  He was so drunk that he staggered all the way home.
• stumble: stagger.
  She stumbled upstairs and into bed.
• lurch: stagger.
  The drunken man was lurching along the street.
• tiptoe: walk on the tips of one's toes.
  She tiptoed to the bed so as not to wake the baby.
• stroll: walk for pleasure.
  They strolled around the park.
• amble: walk at a slow, leisurely pace.
  They ambled along for miles.
• saunter: stroll.
  They sauntered around the park.
• wander: move without a fixed purpose or destination.
  They enjoy wandering through the countryside.
• roam: wander.
  They roamed through the streets for hours.
• ramble: walk for pleasure with no particular destination.
  He likes rambling around in the country.
• mooch: wander, walk slowly without any purpose.
  John mooched about the shops.
• meander: walk in a slow, relaxed way instead of taking the most direct way possible. (Rivers also meander).
  As I was sitting in the park, I watched as couples seemed to meander around happily.
• stride: walk with long steps.
  She strode across the fields.
• strut: walk in a proud way, with the chest out and trying to look important.
  He strutted past us, ignoring our greeting.
• swagger: walk proudly, strut.
  After winning the first prize, the player swaggered about proudly.
• stalk: walk in a proud or angry way, with long steps.
  The teacher turned and stalked out of the classroom.
• sashay: walk in a confident way, moving the body from side to side, especially so that people look at you.
  The models sashayed down the aisle showing their clothes.
• trudge: walk slowly and with effort because one is tired.
  We were very tired after trudging through the deep snow for two hours.
• shuffle: walk very slowly and noisily, without lifting one's feet off the ground.
  His legs were aching so much that he shuffled to bed.
• stump: walk heavily and stiffly.
  They stumped up the hill.
• plod: walk with heavy steps or with difficulty.
  Labourers plodded home through the muddy fields.
• pace: walk with regular steps.
  He paced up and down the platform, waiting for the train.
• march: walk with regular steps of equal length.
  Demonstrators marched through the streets of the city.
• parade: walk or march together to celebrate or protest.
  Demonstrators paraded through the streets of the city.
• crawl: move slowly with the body close to the ground or on hands and knees.
  A baby crawls before he can walk.
• toddle: walk with short unsteady steps.
  Her two-year-old son toddled into the room.
• edge: move gradually with small movements.
  Paul decided to edge away from the crowd.
• creep: move slowly and quietly with the body close to the ground.
  The cat crept silently towards the bird.
• sneak: go quietly and secretly in order to avoid being seen or heard.
  The boy sneaked in without paying.
• pad: walk softly and quietly.
  The child padded barefoot down the stairs.
• prowl: walk slowly and quietly because you are involved in a criminal activity or because you are looking for something.
  Street gangs usually prowl this alley.
• slide: move smoothly over a surface.
  I was sliding on the ice.
• slip: slide accidentally.
  She slipped on the ice and broke her leg.
• dash: move quickly and suddenly, rush.
  I must dash or I'll miss the train.
• dart: move quickly and suddenly in the specified direction.
  She darted away when I came in.
• scamper: run quickly and playfully.
  The children were scampering up the steps.
• sprint: run very quickly for a short distance.
  The kids sprinted down the stairs.
• jog: run slowly and steadily, as a way of exercising.
  She goes jogging everyday.
• trip over: catch one's foot on something and stumble or fall.
  He tripped over the step and fell.
• scuttle: move quickly with short steps, because you are afraid or do not want to be noticed.
  The mouse scuttled off when we entered the room.
• scurry: move quickly with short steps, because you are in a hurry.
  He was late so he had to scurry off to work.
• skip: move forward with quick steps and jumps.
  The child skipped with joy towards his father.
• lope: run with long steps.
  The man loped off after the ball.
• lollop: run with long awkward steps.
  The dog came lolloping down the path.
• tear: run or move quickly in a dangerous or careless way.
  When the storm started, they tore back into the house.
• rush: hurry, move quickly because you need to get somewhere soon.
  She was late so she decided to rush off down the hall.
• hop: move by jumping on one foot.
  The man hopped down the road after hurting his foot.
• trip: walk with short quick steps, usually as young girls do.
  The little girl tripped happily up the road.
• lunge: make a sudden movement towards somebody or something.
  The boxer lunged forward and grabbed his opponent by the arm.
• scramble: climb up or down, or over something quickly and with difficulty.
  They had to scramble up to the top of the hill to see the view.
• hike: take a long walk in the mountains or countryside, as an adventure.
  The group hiked up to the top of the hill.
• trek: hike; make a long, difficult journey on foot.
  For ten days she trekked across the mountains of China.
• paddle (GB), wade (US): walk for pleasure without shoes or socks in water that is not very deep.
  The children were paddling in the lake.
• waddle: walk with short steps, moving the body from one side to another, used especially to talk about birds or people with fat bodies.
  The fat man waddled off to the restaurant for lunch.
• prance: walk with high steps or large movements, in a confident way.
  She pranced around her room, pretending to be an actress.
• frogmarch: force somebody to walk by holding his arms tightly by his side, usually because of bad behaviour.
  The prefect frogmarched the boy to the detention room.