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)
(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.
Be a clown, be a clown, All the world loves a clown. Act the fool, play the calf, And you'll always have the last laugh . Cole Porter
That was the universe: you could beat it once, you could float a message in a bottle across half of eternity, but the universe would always find a way to have the last laugh. Alastair Reynolds