- hiccup
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/hik"up, -euhp/, n., v., hiccuped or hiccupped, hiccuping or hiccupping.n.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.v.i.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"up, -euhp/.
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Spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm that causes a sudden breath in, cut off when the vocal cords snap together, creating the characteristic sound.Causes include overdistended stomach, gastric irritation, and nerve spasms. The many folk remedies for hiccups interrupt the rhythm of the spasms. The most common and effective treatment is to hold the breath as long as possible. Hiccups usually stop within minutes, though they may last days, weeks, or longer. Prolonged severe hiccups are treated with nerve blocks or by surgically cutting the nerve that supplies the diaphragm.* * *
also spelled Hiccough,spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm (the muscular partition separating the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity) which causes a sudden intake of breath that is involuntarily cut off by closure of the glottis (the opening between the vocal cords), thus producing a characteristic sound. Hiccups arise from various causes, most commonly overdistention of the stomach. Gastric irritation, nerve spasms, and various metabolic disturbances may also cause hiccups. A wide variety of folk remedies are used to stop hiccups by interrupting the rhythm of the diaphragm spasms; the most common and effective treatment is to hold one's breath for as long as possible. Regardless of treatment, hiccups usually stop within minutes, although they may persist for days or weeks, and there have been isolated reports of hiccups continuing for several years. Prolonged severe hiccups are treated by surgically crushing the phrenic nerve that innervates the diaphragm.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
