laugh vs poke fun

laugh

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

  • 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 express by, or utter with, laughter. 

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

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. 

poke fun

verb
  • To subject someone to laughter or ridicule. 

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