Word Distinction: Laughing

When you laugh you produce sounds with the voice while smiling. To guffaw (rare) means "to laugh loudly" and to chuckle means "to laugh quietly with pleasure or satisfaction". To giggle (in Britain used especially about young girls) is to laugh repeatedly in an uncontrolled way. To titter is to giggle quietly in a nervous or silly way. If you laugh quietly in an unpleasant or rude way, you snigger (American English: snicker). All these words can be used both as verbs and as nouns.