Definition of "chortle" [chor•tle]

• A snorting, joyful laugh or chuckle. (noun)
• To utter a chortle or express with a chortle. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Although manteau = cloak and portmanteau = carry + cloak, "portmanteau word" was a coinage by Lewis Carroll, to refer to words like "chortle" chuckle + snort and so called because it resembled the Gladstone bag style of portmanteau, which has two equal compartments that fasten together in the middle."
• "I love that crazy guy who is sometimes on the bus who has a laugh that actually might fit the word "chortle"."
• "He had to say "chortle" at the end to signify that that was a joke."