be laughed out of court
To be rejected as outrageous or absurd. Despite the phrasing, this expression does not usually refer to an actual legal case. You'll be laughed out of court if you approach the board with an idea like that!
be laughed out of court
If you or your ideas are laughed out of court, people dismiss your ideas and do not take you seriously. Only two decades ago the idea of an Equal Opportunities Commission championing the rights of women would have been laughed out of court. Back in May 2002, this proposal was laughed out of court. Note: A plaintiff (= person who brings a legal case against someone else) who is `out of court' has lost the right to be heard in a court of law.