The friends guffawed heartily at the hilarious story.

Meaning: This means the friends found the story very funny and laughed loudly and heartily.

Choice of Words: Guffawed means to laugh loudly and heartily. Heartily means with a lot of feeling or emotion. When you put them together, "guffawed heartily" means the friends laughed loudly and with a lot of feeling.

Alternative Expressions

The friends laughed very loudly at the funny story.

Meaning: This sentence describes a group of friends who found a story very funny and laughed out loud because of it.

Choice of Words: The friends means the group of people who are close and like each other. Laughed is a past tense verb that means to make sounds of laughter because something is funny. Very loudly describes how the friends laughed, meaning they made big, noisy sounds. At indicates what the friends were laughing at, which is the funny story.

The friends had a great laugh at the hilarious tale.

Meaning: This sentence describes a group of friends who had a lot of fun and laughter while listening to a funny story.

Choice of Words: The friends refers to the group of people who are close and enjoy each other's company. Had a great laugh means that the friends laughed a lot and enjoyed themselves. At indicates what the friends were laughing at, which is the hilarious tale.

The buddies erupted in laughter over the comical yarn.

Meaning: This sentence describes a group of friends who found a story very funny and couldn't stop laughing about it.

Choice of Words: The buddies means a group of close friends. Erupted in laughter is a phrase that means they started laughing suddenly and loudly. Over indicates what caused the laughter, which is the comical yarn.

Related Expressions