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
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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
They don’t think the labor market is is suffering a hiccup every summer.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
This isn’t its first hiccup in recent months.
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
Blue Origin’s first commercial launch for its massive new rocket suffered a mission hiccup Sunday, a setback for Jeff Bezos’ rocket company.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
Eventually, I stop crying and start to hiccup.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
It has experienced hiccups raising new capital privately.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
Here are some common last-minute election-day hiccups and how to navigate them so you can earn your “I voted” sticker on Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 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
Technicians troubleshoot problems with factory machinery, fixing hiccups that could jam up production of backlogged 737 MAX jets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Every couple of days he’ll startle the directress with some unanswerable query: “Why do we get hiccups, Frau Elena?”
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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
Juanita sniffed and hiccuped as she tried in vain to stop herself from bawling.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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
Every few seconds, the actor could he heard hiccuping between words as he talked to the camera.
From Fox News ● Dec. 11, 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
I was in my gifted class when I started hiccuping, which made the others laugh.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
"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
On this breezy late-August night, the police van hiccupped and bounced over the streets’ grooves and potholes.
From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2012
A feverish baby hiccupped on its mother’s breast.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
“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
Soon they were so beyond control that they collapsed onto two couches, shrieking and hiccupping and holding their noses.
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
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