English · Idiom Historical

to laugh in one's beard

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

To laugh up one's sleeve, that is, surreptitiously.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “to laugh in one's beard” mean?

To laugh up one's sleeve, that is, surreptitiously.

Is “to laugh in one's beard” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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