ha ha1
/hɑːˈhɑː
/(also he he)
exclamation
Used to represent laughter: ‘Oh ha ha, very funny,’ I said ‘I know you!’ he said. ‘He he,’ she chuckled. ‘Do you?’...
- I just wanted to let you all know because I'm certain you'd be fretting until Monday otherwise. Ha ha ha!
- We laugh scornfully ha ha! as we recall our pre-babies life, our carefree genderless roles.
- He pats the banquette he's sitting on. ‘Oh, if this couch could talk… ha ha!’
Origin
Natural utterance: first recorded in Old English (compare with ha1).
ha-ha2
/ˈhɑːhɑː/noun
A ditch with a wall on its inner side below ground level, forming a boundary to a park or garden without interrupting the view.By removing the scrubby hawthorns that had grown up around the ha-ha, or sunken ditch, we have opened up the view that Jane Austen knew, in the true English landscape garden tradition....
- Three fishing ponds were joined together to create two lakes, separated by a dam-cum-bridge and a ha-ha - a sunken wall that kept grazing animals out of the park.
- Or possibly, it is just the gap where the ha-ha is broken to allow the turn-in from the road.
Origin
Early 18th century: from French, said to be from the cry of surprise on suddenly encountering such an obstacle.