hiccup
Americannoun
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hiccups
plural
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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.
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Usually hiccups. the condition of having such spasms.
She got the hiccups just as she began to speak.
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Informal. a minor difficulty, interruption, setback, etc..
a hiccup in the stock market.
verb (used without object)
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to make the sound of a hiccup.
The motor hiccuped as it started.
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to have the hiccups.
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Informal. to experience a temporary decline, setback, interruption, etc..
There was general alarm when the economy hiccuped.
noun
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Technical name: singultus. a spasm of the diaphragm producing a sudden breathing in followed by a closing of the glottis, resulting in a sharp sound
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the state or condition of having such spasms
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informal a minor difficulty or problem
verb
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(intr) to make a hiccup or hiccups
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(tr) to utter with a hiccup or hiccups
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hiccup
1570–80; alteration of hocket, hickock, equivalent to hic + -ock; akin to Low German hick hiccup; see hocket
Explanation
A hiccup is a jerky, repeated contraction in your diaphragm — it's a sort of involuntary tic you can feel in your throat and chest. People who have hiccups usually make a "hic" sound. Hiccups are a kind of spasm that can be brief or linger frustratingly. One man famously suffered from hiccups for 68 years — for that whole time, not a single folk remedy (doing a headstand, drinking water fast, being scared by someone, and so on) worked to relieve them. The word hiccup is imitative of the sound of hiccups. An Old English word for it was ælfsogoða, "elf heartburn," since hiccups were thought to be caused by elves.
Vocabulary lists containing hiccup
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for February 5–February 11, 2022
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Vocabulary from Readings 3, Unit 1
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Vocabulary from Readings 3, Unit 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But there was a last-minute hiccup: Some members of the coalition felt the deal fell considerably short of what they had been seeking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
The result is a hiccup for Russell, who has a golden opportunity to make up ground on team-mate Antonelli, who has a 30-place grid penalty.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Doomsayers are always on hand, waiting for every hiccup on Wall Street or data center setback to proclaim the technology is about to pop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Thursday’s vote is a huge step forward for the crypto industry’s biggest legislative priority, but even a small hiccup could derail its path to becoming law.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
I felt the fierce heat inside my nostril and knew that one false move, one little hiccup ...
From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos
For all its little hiccups, “Carrie” does make one feel sad maybe 80% of the time, and anxious the rest of it, which is to say it does its job.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Despite the hiccups, Monday’s mission should let SpaceX begin to recoup some of the $15 billion-plus it has spent on the rocket.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Now Bob Chesney and the Bruins ask for patience as they work through their early hiccups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
And that means the company can little afford continued hiccups with Starship, the successor to SpaceX’s tried and tested Falcon 9 rockets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
The boy’s sobs softened to pitiful hiccups, then spiked again to shrieks as Leafie felt his arm.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
Both division rivals were heavy favorites Sunday and neither hiccuped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2021
Aníbal Sánchez finally hiccuped in the fifth, a long solo home run from Max Muncy which splashed down deep in the right-center field bleachers, but he’d delivered as much as the Nationals could have hoped.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 6, 2019
The patient with the longest recorded case, according to Guinness World Records, was Charles Osborne of Anthon, Iowa, who hiccuped for 68 years straight.
From New York Times ● Aug. 15, 2019
Even as Europe, particularly Greece, has struggled, the U.S. market has barely hiccuped.
From US News ● Nov. 6, 2015
Juanita sniffed and hiccuped as she tried in vain to stop herself from bawling.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
The 15-time major winner, 50, can be seen co-operating with authorities and then hiccuping while he is being driven away in the back of the police car.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2026
Within seconds, I’m crying, sweating and hiccuping — simultaneously.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2022
The hiccuping ultimately "escalated to…a good deal of hiccup-induced puking," he said.
From Fox News ● Dec. 11, 2021
Others, though, would work on exams with hiccuping computers, at uncomfortable tables with other children or adults making noise nearby.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 27, 2021
He wept on and on, hiccuping to catch his breath.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
"The smallest things upset me. The other day I jumped when a woman in the street hiccupped as she walked past me."
From Fox News ● Dec. 5, 2019
He hiccupped in late April, allowing three runs in two innings, but the Nationals had seen what they needed to.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 4, 2019
Celeste hiccupped or burped and it turned into a small retch, but nothing came up.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 22, 2019
The technicians are searching this layout for "events," or instances where Holloway's breathing, heart rate or brain waves hiccupped.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 26, 2011
I opened my mouth, but Mama held her index finger in front of her lips in a “Shush,” so I just hiccupped again.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
Or a friend might send me another sweet video of her newborn hiccupping.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 30, 2021
“I still write too many of her patented hiccupping, chicken-bone sentences,” said the L.A.-based writer and founder of Boyle Heights’ Libros Schmibros.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2021
His hiccupping went on for hours, and finally ended late that afternoon when their car broke down on the way to their honeymoon destination.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 24, 2021
Lincoln was hiccupping a lot in the third trimester.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2021
Tucker had a squeaky laugh that sounded as if he were hiccupping.
From "The Cricket in Times Square" by George Selden
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
