Cobblers a wife makes laugh (6)

I believe the answer is:
guffaw
'laugh' is the definition.
(I know that guffaw is a more specific form of the action laugh)
'cobblers a wife' is the wordplay.
'cobblers' becomes 'guff' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'wife' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'guff'+'a'+'w'='GUFFAW'
'makes' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for guffaw that I've seen before include "Belly laugh" , "A loud uninhibited laugh" , "Laugh heartily" , "Laugh boisterously" , "A loud hearty laugh" .)
