have the last laugh

Alternative forms

• get the last laugh

Verb

have the last laugh (third-person singular simple present has the last laugh, present participle having the last laugh, simple past and past participle had the last laugh)

1. (idiomatic) To be vindicated; to triumph despite predicted failure; to find success after defeat or setback.

   The author had the last laugh over the publishers who had rejected her now best-selling book.