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hiccough

 - 5 dictionary results

hic⋅cup

  [hik-uhp, -uhp] noun, verb, -cuped or -cupped, -cup⋅ing or -cup⋅ping.
Use hiccough in a Sentence
–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.
3. Informal. a minor difficulty, interruption, setback, etc.: a hiccup in the stock market.
–verb (used without object)
4. to make the sound of a hiccup: The motor hiccuped as it started.
5. to have the hiccups.
6. Informal. to experience a temporary decline, setback, interruption, etc.: There was general alarm when the economy hiccuped.
Also, hic-cough  [hik-uhp, -uhp] .

Origin:
1570–80; alter. of hocket, hickock, equiv. to hic + -ock; akin to LG hick hiccup; see hocket
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To hiccough
hic·cup also hic·cough   (hĭk'əp)   
n.  

    1. A spasm of the diaphragm resulting in a rapid, involuntary inhalation that is stopped by the sudden closure of the glottis and accompanied by a sharp, distinctive sound.

    2. hiccups also hiccoughs An attack of these spasms. Often used with the.

  2. The sound made by such a spasm or a sound resembling it: "the urgent hiccup of a police siren" (John Updike).

intr.v.   hic·cupped also hic·coughed, hic·cup·ping also hic·cough·ing, hic·cups also hic·coughs

  1. To make a hiccup or a sound like a hiccup.

  2. To have an attack of hiccups.


[Imitative.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

hiccup 
1580, hickop, earlier hicket, hyckock, considered imitative of the sound of hiccupping (cf. Fr. hoquet, Dan. hikke, etc.); modern spelling first recorded 1788; hiccough (1626) is by mistaken association with cough. Replaced O.E. ælfsogoða, so called because hiccups were thought to be caused by elves.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2hiccup
Variant: also hiccough
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Forms: hic·cuped also hic·cupped or hic·coughed; hic·cup·ing also hic·cup·ping or hic·cough·ing
: to make a hiccup; also : to be affected with hiccups —hic·cup·er also hic·cough·er noun
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

hiccup hic·cup or hic·cough (hĭk'əp)
n.
A spasm of the diaphragm causing sudden inhalation interrupted by spasmodic closure of the glottis, producing a characteristic noise.

hic'cup or hic'cough v.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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