hiccup

or hic-cough

[ hik-uhp, -uhp ]
See synonyms for: hiccuphiccupedhiccupinghiccupped on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a quick, involuntary inhalation that follows a spasm of the diaphragm and is suddenly checked by closure of the glottis, producing a short, relatively sharp sound.

  2. Usually hiccups. the condition of having such spasms: She got the hiccups just as she began to speak.

  1. Informal. a minor difficulty, interruption, setback, etc.: a hiccup in the stock market.

verb (used without object),hic·cuped or hic·cupped, hic·cup·ing or hic·cup·ping.
  1. to make the sound of a hiccup: The motor hiccuped as it started.

  2. to have the hiccups.

  1. Informal. to experience a temporary decline, setback, interruption, etc.: There was general alarm when the economy hiccuped.

Origin of hiccup

1
1570–80; alteration of hocket, hickock, equivalent to hic + -ock; akin to Low German hick hiccup; see hocket

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hiccup in a sentence

  • Involuntarily Howell gave a little hiccough of emotion, which answered Dafydd sufficiently.

    Mushroom Town | Oliver Onions
  • At this moment a hiccough was heard, and a rather fast and rakish-looking chap, named Stagger, spoke up.

  • "Heaven save us from meeting any more such driftwood," said the pilot unsteadily with a hiccough.

    The Incendiary | W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy
  • She told Esprit (one of the doctors) that it was the death-hiccough.

    Court Beauties of Old Whitehall | W. R. H. Trowbridge
  • His face was white and drawn, and every now and then he shook with a hiccough.

    A Modern Aladdin | Howard Pyle

British Dictionary definitions for hiccup

hiccup

hiccough

/ (ˈhɪkʌp) /


noun
  1. a spasm of the diaphragm producing a sudden breathing in followed by a closing of the glottis, resulting in a sharp sound: Technical name: singultus

  2. the state or condition of having such spasms

  1. informal a minor difficulty or problem

verb-cups, -cuping, -cuped, -cups, -cupping, -cupped, -coughs, -coughing or -coughed
  1. (intr) to make a hiccup or hiccups

  2. (tr) to utter with a hiccup or hiccups

Origin of hiccup

1
C16: of imitative origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012