Question

it was only a cough — a dry little cough but it had the effect of stopping him in full cry.
source: and then there were none
in the sentence above, effect has the same or almost the same meaning as:
weirdness
emotion
result
trait

Explanation:

In the sentence, "effect" means the consequence or outcome. "Result" also refers to the consequence of an action or event. "Weirdness" means strangeness, "emotion" refers to feelings, and "trait" means a characteristic.

Answer:

C. result