n.
A snorting, joyful laugh or chuckle.
intr. & tr.v., -tled, -tling, -tles.
To utter a chortle or express with a chortle.
chortler chor'tler n.
WORD HISTORY "'O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy." Perhaps Lewis Carroll would chortle a bit himself to find that people are still using the word chortle, which he coined in Through the Looking-Glass, published in 1872. In any case, Carroll had constructed his word well, combining the words chuckle and snort. This type of word is called a blend or a portmanteau word. In Through the Looking-Glass Humpty Dumpty uses portmanteau to describe the word slithy, saying, "It's like a portmanteau-there are two meanings packed up into one word" (the meanings being "lithe" and "slimy").
