hiccup
Americannoun
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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:
The artificial-intelligence boom could see a hiccup, along with the torrent of capital spending that has kept deals flowing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Any slight hiccup could spark selling, such as the words of a South Korean official.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
"If we do have a hiccup here and there that is also good to learn from."
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
After the hiccup, Riley said the team responded well and it was back to business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 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
The primary goals of this 13th test launch were to once again demonstrate those redesigns in flight, this time without any hiccups.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
As Scott Kahan, director of the National Center for Weight and Wellness, puts it, expect confusion and hiccups at the outset.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
What 250 years means: It means that we’ve seen a lot of changes… progress with a lot of hiccups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
To brace for unexpected hiccups in your earnings or health, you need to plan for all scenarios rather than having a theoretical retirement date circled on your calendar.
From MarketWatch ● May 29, 2026
But afterward I had small random motions in my stomach, almost like hiccups.
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
Both division rivals were heavy favorites Sunday and neither hiccuped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2021
In one July 8 clip, Bolsonaro hiccuped approximately 14 times within the first minute.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 14, 2021
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
He and Jam had been lying on a grassy hill behind the school, one they liked to roll down, watching the sky bump and skip in hiccuped blue as gravity played with them.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
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
I can tell she’s trying not to sob from the little hiccuping sounds she’s making.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
The pangrams from yesterday’s Spelling Bee were hiccuped and hiccupped.
From New York Times ● Feb. 15, 2023
"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
Celeste hiccupped or burped and it turned into a small retch, but nothing came up.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 22, 2019
I longed for a phrase that simply grew, one note to the next, like a singer; instead the lines hiccupped or gasped, the vibrato intermittent or delayed.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 12, 2017
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
“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
In the many recent presidential live streams, Bolsonaro’s hiccuping is evident, and he has prefaced some appearances by acknowledging his hiccupping and disrupted speech.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 14, 2021
“You’d best leave this mule alone, Flora,” I scolded, raising my voice to be heard over Lucky Pete’s piteous braying and hiccupping.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
