Lexic.us

Definition of Hiccough

1. Verb. Breathe spasmodically, and make a sound. "When you have to hiccup, drink a glass of cold water"

2. Noun. (usually plural) the state of having reflex spasms of the diaphragm accompanied by a rapid closure of the glottis producing an audible sound; sometimes a symptom of indigestion. "How do you cure the hiccups?"

Definition of Hiccough

1. n. A modified respiratory movement; a spasmodic inspiration, consisting of a sudden contraction of the diaphragm, accompanied with closure of the glottis, so that further entrance of air is prevented, while the impulse of the column of air entering and striking upon the closed glottis produces a sound, or hiccough.

2. v. i. To have a hiccough or hiccoughs.

Definition of Hiccough

1. Noun. (alternative spelling of hiccup) ¹

2. Verb. (dated) (alternative spelling of hiccup) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Hiccough

1. to hiccup [v -ED, -ING, -S] - See also: hiccup

Medical Definition of Hiccough

1. A modified respiratory movement; a spasmodic inspiration, consisting of a sudden contraction of the diaphragm, accompanied with closure of the glottis, so that further entrance of air is prevented, while the impulse of the column of air entering and striking upon the closed glottis produces a sound, or hiccough. Alternative forms: hickup or hiccup. Origin: OE. Hickup, hicket, hickock; prob. Of imitative origin; cf. D. & Dan. Hik, Sw. Hicka, Armor. Hak, hik, W. Ig, F. Hoquet. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Hiccough

hibernations hibernator hibernators hibernoma hibiscus hibiscuses hibonite hibonites hic hic Rhodus, hic salta

hicatee hicatees hiccatee hiccatees hiccory hiccough (current term) hiccough nut hiccoughed hiccoughing hiccoughs

hiccup hiccup nut hiccuped hiccuping hiccuplike hiccupped hiccupping hiccups hiccupy hick

Literary usage of Hiccough

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Works of Francis Bacon: Baron of Verulam, Viscount St. Albans, and Lord by Francis Bacon (1824)
"The cause is, for that the motion of the hiccough is a lifting up of the stomach, ... For first we see that the hiccough cometh of fulness of meat, ..."

2. A Treatise on the Diseases of Children: With Directions for the Management by Michael Underwood, Marshall Hall (1835)
"The hiccough is an affection very incident also to more advanced childhood : but ... And it may not be amiss to attempt it whenever the hiccough may return, ..."

3. New Orleans as I Found it by Edward Henry Durell (1845)
"Ay, this is it—this it is to live like a king—1-ike a — hiccough — little ... You are in a monstrous—hiccough— hurry to get through with a good thing,' said ..."

4. The Pre- and Proto-historic Finns, Both Eastern and Western, with the Magic by baron John Abercromby Abercromby, John Abercromby (1898)
"Go, hiccough, to a clump of limes; I'll come to strip the bast; go, hiccough, ... (This has to be repeated till the hiccough ceases.) § 34. FOR SPRAINS. ..."

5. The Retrospect of Medicine by William Braithwaite (1870)
"A persistent hiccough had begun shortly before Dr. Constable arrived. At first little attention was paid to the hiccough, but by the second day it was still ..."

6. Homœopathic Therapeutics by Samuel Lilienthal (1890)
"Spasms, composed partly of eructations, partly of hiccough ; violent attacks of hiccough, so that they jerk the patient up, even with feeling of suffocation ..."

Other Resources: