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hiccup

noun

ˈhi-(ˌ)kəp How to pronounce hiccup (audio)
variants also hiccough
Definition of hiccupnext
as in interruption
a break in continuity the business has grown steadily for 14 years, with only a few minor hiccups

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hiccup The only hiccup was a pick-6 by Tampa Bay rookie linebacker Jeremiah Trotter. — ABC News, 13 Sep. 2026 Heading into the results, analysts were looking for information on hiccups in Oracle's data center buildout, after Bloomberg reported that a natural gas pipeline for a New Mexico data center was running behind schedule. — Jordan Novet, CNBC, 10 Sep. 2026 Rothera earned Robinhood’s praise by rapidly onboarding volume during the World Cup with few public hiccups just months after relaunching post-acquisition. — Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 10 Sep. 2026 In clinical environments bound by federal regulations and ethics guidelines, an LLM that hallucinates an endpoint or botches eligibility criteria does not just cause a minor hiccup. — Anshima Raj, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hiccup
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hiccup
  1. interruption
  2. interval
  3. hiatus
  4. pause
  5. gap
Noun
  • Celebrities including Lupita Nyong’o, Sharon Stone, John Boyega and Michelle Williams attended at the WSA Building in downtown Manhattan for this season’s show, which continued despite the interruption.
    — Oscar Holland, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Mercury opposes hazy Neptune, making expectations unclear and interruptions harder to manage.
    — Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 12 Sep. 2026
Definition of interruption
Noun
  • Take a few minutes to loosen up and get the blood flowing before starting your first interval.
    — Jakob Roze, HEALTH, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Tickets cost £33 (about $44) and are sold in 10-minute intervals, for a 40-minute visit, but the first batch are sold out.
    — Lauren Frayer, NPR, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of interval
Noun
  • After a 45-year hiatus, Formula 1 racing is returning to Madrid this weekend with the Spanish Grand Prix.
    — Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 13 Sep. 2026
  • Baker is taking a hiatus from competing after her mother decided to ‘retire’ from the grooming side of the equation.
    — Tilly Berendt, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of hiatus
Noun
  • But when evaluating this team, certain positions give you pause.
    — Colton Pouncy, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Virgo August 23 – September 22 Your body may be asking for a pause while your schedule keeps making demands.
    — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of pause
Noun
  • The commencement of large payments before the works are completed has created the timing gap referred to above, squeezing liquidity in the immediate term.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • African banks are constrained by government borrowing and shallow domestic savings, while the continent faces an infrastructure financing gap estimated at up to $100 billion a year.
    — Yinka Adegoke, semafor.com, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of gap

Browse Nearby Words

hibernations
hiccup
hiccups
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Cite this Entry

“Hiccup.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hiccup. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on hiccup

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about hiccup

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