Involuntary jerky breathing sounds your body makes, usually happening suddenly and repeatedly for a few minutes.
From onomatopoeia 'hic' (imitating the sound) combined with 'cup' or 'cough.' The term dates to the 1600s and mimics the actual sound of the spasm.
Hiccups happen when your diaphragm muscle spasms, but nobody really knows why we evolved to hiccup at all—some scientists think it's a leftover reflex from when our ancient fish ancestors breathed through gills!
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