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hiccough

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“

Pallant sawed on--'out of certain events which occurred at the village of Huckley The House came to attention with a parting of the lips like a hiccough, and it flashed through my mind.... Pallant repeated, 'Huckley.

—A Diversity of Creatures

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Definitions (4)

American Heritage Dictionary

Century Dictionary

GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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.
To have a hiccough or hiccoughs.

WordNet (2)

(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
breathe spasmodically, and make a sound

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Examples (50)

If a man can't h'earn a honest livin' at your time of life, 'e may as lief--_(hiccough)_--drown 'isself Doctor. — Oh! Susannah! A Farcical Comedy in Three Acts
Which reminds me that Widder Smith 'as met you in (hiccough) in sassiety Doctor. — Oh! Susannah! A Farcical Comedy in Three Acts
You see it's not quite so easy as you thought At this moment a hiccough was heard, and a rather fast and rakish-looking chap, named Stagger, spoke up. — The Aeroplane Speaks Fifth Edition
"The Drum (who was a private friend of Trotty's) then stepped forward, and" offered--evidently with a hiccough or two--his greeting of good fellowship, "which," as we learn from the book, "was received with a general shout." — Charles Dickens as a Reader
There was also occasional hiccough, and stitch on drawing a long breath. — Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900 Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre

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clenching · retch · stutter · sneeze · gibber · throe · shudder · bear-hug · backlighting · sputum · hiccup · vomit

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