Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Hiccough

Hiccough (?; 277) , noun

[Old English hickup, hicket, hickock; prob. of imitative origin; compare Dutch & Danish hik, Swedish hicka, Armor. hak, hik, Welsh ig, French hoquet.]

(Physiology) 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.

Hiccough , intransitive verb

To have a hiccough or hiccoughs.