To giggle is to laugh in a light, bubbly way, often with a series of quick, breathy sounds. When something strikes you as funny but not hilarious, you might giggle instead of letting out a big belly laugh. Young children giggle frequently, but so do teenagers, adults, and even grandparents when something tickles them just right.

Giggling often happens when you're trying to stay quiet but can't quite hold the laughter in. Picture students in class when someone makes a funny face behind the teacher's back, or friends at a sleepover whispering jokes after lights-out. A giggle tends to be contagious: once one person starts, others often join in, even if they didn't see what was funny in the first place.

The word suggests a lighter, more playful kind of laughter than words like guffaw or roar. When you read that a character “giggled,” you can picture someone covering their mouth, shoulders shaking, trying not to laugh too loudly. Sometimes nervous energy causes giggles too, like when you're waiting backstage before a school performance and everything suddenly seems funny, even though nothing particularly amusing has happened.