捧腹大笑
pěng fù dà xiào
to split one’s sides laughing
Character by character
捧pěng
hold
hold
腹fù
belly
belly
大dà
loudly
loudly
笑xiào
laugh
laugh
Example
他模仿老师说话的样子，逗得全班同学捧腹大笑。
He imitated the way the teacher talks and had the whole class clutching their sides.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
捧 is to hold with both hands: laughing so hard you hold your stomach. Often 令人捧腹大笑 or 逗得…捧腹大笑; 令人捧腹 alone means “hilarious”. Compare 哄堂大笑, where the whole room laughs at once.
Learn this in Lesson 234 · HSK 9+: 春晚 (The Spring Festival Gala)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. This lesson is free.
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