hiccup

American  

[hik-uhp, -uhp] / ˈhɪk ʌp, -əp /

Or hic-cough

noun

• hiccups
  plural

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.

3. Informal. a minor difficulty, interruption, setback, etc..

   a hiccup in the stock market.

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verb (used without object)

hiccuped, hiccupped, hiccuping, hiccupping

1. to make the sound of a hiccup.

   The motor hiccuped as it started.

2. to have the hiccups.

3. Informal. to experience a temporary decline, setback, interruption, etc..

   There was general alarm when the economy hiccuped.

hiccup British  

/ ˈhɪkʌp /

noun

1. 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

2. the state or condition of having such spasms

3. informal a minor difficulty or problem

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verb

1. (intr) to make a hiccup or hiccups

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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hiccups
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of hiccup

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

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hiccup hiccups hiccuped hiccuping hiccupped hiccupping

Over longer horizons, however, the S&P 500 on average barely suffers a hiccup because of first hikes.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026

“It’s just kind of a hiccup along the way to what’s been a pretty long AI infrastructure spending cycle that’s likely to continue,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Investment Management.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

This isn’t its first hiccup in recent months.

From Barron's ● May 28, 2026

"If we do have a hiccup here and there that is also good to learn from."

From BBC ● Apr. 10, 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 fundraising hiccups come as OpenAI prepares to go public as soon as early next year, and amid a brutal tech selloff tied to disappointing earnings results from giants including Google, Amazon and Intel.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026

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

Then he laughs and hiccups at the same time.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson

In one July 8 clip, Bolsonaro hiccuped approximately 14 times within the first minute.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 14, 2021

As for Mr. Osborne, who hiccuped for almost 70 years, he learned to live with it after trying various remedies and seeing multiple specialists.

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

But when Wilder's routine hiccuped regularly in the 1960s, he lost that explosive snap in his barbed approach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2015

“Stop skulking and come and join us, Severus!” hiccuped Slughorn happily.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

Then the chuckle caught in her throat and turned into a quiet, hiccuping sob.

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026

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

The only sound to break the silence was that of Hagrid hiccuping from behind his handkerchief.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

"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 had the flowing snot and the hiccupped breathing.

From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2015

I nodded and hiccupped and sucked hard on the peppermint while the tears streamed down my face and my nose ran uncontrollably.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

If you are gargling at the same time that you are hiccupping, you might aspirate water.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 13, 2023

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

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

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