have a laugh vs laugh

have a laugh

verb
  • To laugh. 

  • To joke; kid around. 

  • To enjoy oneself; have fun. 

laugh

verb
  • To express by, or utter with, laughter. 

  • To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and eyes, and usually accompanied by the emission of explosive or chuckling sounds from the chest and throat; to indulge in laughter. 

  • To make an object of laughter or ridicule; to make fun of; to deride; to mock. 

  • To affect or influence by means of laughter or ridicule. 

noun
  • A fun person. 

  • An expression of mirth particular to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter. 

  • Something that provokes mirth or scorn. 

How often have the words have a laugh and laugh occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )