A small pigeon (Spilopelia senegalensis) native to the tropics in Africa south of the Sahara; the Middle East; and southern Asia east to India.

(transitive) To respond to a negative situation lightheartedly, as though it were a joke.

The European white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons).

An owl (Sceloglaux albifacies) of New Zealand, now probably extinct, named for its cry.

(informal) The spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta); so called because of the resemblance of its call to human laughter.

A common European gull (Xema ridibundus). / An American gull (Leucophaeus atricilla); in summer the head is nearly black, the back slate color, and the five outer primaries black.

Nitrous oxide, especially when used as an anaesthetic.

A South American hawk (Herpetotheres cachinnans), so called from its notes, which resemble a shrill laughing.

(Australia, obsolete) The laughing kookaburra, Dacelo novaeguineae.

(idiomatic) An object of ridicule, someone who is publicly ridiculed; the butt of a joke.