cough
Americanverb (used without object)
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to expel air from the lungs suddenly with a harsh noise, often involuntarily.
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(of an internal-combustion engine) to make a similar noise as a result of the failure of one or more cylinders to fire in sequence.
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to make a similar sound, as a machine gun firing in spurts.
verb (used with object)
noun
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the act or sound of coughing.
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an illness characterized by frequent coughing.
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a sound similar to a cough, a machine gun, or an engine firing improperly.
verb phrase
verb
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(intr) to expel air or solid matter from the lungs abruptly and explosively through the partially closed vocal chords
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(intr) to make a sound similar to this
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(tr) to utter or express with a cough or coughs
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slang (intr) to confess to a crime
noun
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an act, instance, or sound of coughing
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a condition of the lungs or throat that causes frequent coughing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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coughsimple
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coughssimple
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have coughedperfect
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has coughedperfect
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am coughingprogressive
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are coughingprogressive
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is coughingprogressive
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have been coughingperfect progressive
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has been coughingperfect progressive
Past
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coughedsimple
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had coughedperfect
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was coughingprogressive
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were coughingprogressive
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had been coughingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cough
1275–1325; Middle English coghen, apparently < Old English *cohhian (compare its derivative cohhettan to cough); akin to Dutch kuchen to cough, German keuchen to wheeze
Explanation
A cough is a reflex in which your throat or lungs are cleared by a sudden, sharp burst of air escaping. A bad cough can make it very hard to sleep at night. A cough is evidence that someone's sick, and it's a verb as well: "She began to cough and couldn't stop until someone brought her a bottle of water." You can also describe a cough-like sound that an engine makes when it's not working properly as a cough. The Old English source of cough is coughen, from a Germanic root — every version of the word is imitative, the word itself sounding like a cough.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As a result, the company decided to discontinue further development of camlipixant in refractory chronic cough, it added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Less common symptoms include a cold, numb leg or a cough.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
"It stings the nose, makes you cough and have a runny nose, and makes you unable to breathe... We were forced to leave the house because we couldn't take it anymore."
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
People should monitor for one to three weeks after potential exposure for symptoms including fever, cough, runny nose, rash or red eyes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
She gave a rattling cough, which Clare found alarming, since he hadn’t known birds capable of coughing.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
In an actual courtroom, court reporters record nonverbal cues like gestures and transcribe through distracting courtroom noises like coughs or door slams.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Highly contagious, measles spreads quickly through coughs and sneezes and is particularly dangerous for unvaccinated young children under the age of 5.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
Teenage boys have been drenching themselves and their surroundings in its scents for decades—and drawing complaints and choking coughs for just as long.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026
TB is spread through the air when an infected person speaks, coughs or sings and a nearby person breathes in the germs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2026
“I smell meat,” she said around her coughs.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
Around 20,000 years ago, a cave was home to generations of owls that regularly coughed up pellets containing the bones of their prey.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
I coughed over the sink, hardly able to get a breath, until I gagged and drooled into the drain.
From Slate ● Jun. 13, 2026
Even after he coughed up his lead in the third set, he attempted to spend some time recovering by tanking the fourth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
Italy were well in the match but three times coughed up the ball within sight of the tryline to let France off.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
He bent over and coughed up some water.
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
But even after the studio won a bidding war for the story, it balked at coughing up the money for a movie worthy of Madonna’s legacy.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
"Anyone who is coughing or has a gastrointestinal infection belongs in bed – not in an overcrowded surgery," it said in a statement.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
Those who find extensive damage to their roofs might be stuck between two options: filing an insurance claim, which could trigger a premium increase, or coughing up the cash for the necessary repairs or replacement.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
In addition to eye, skin and breathing problems, MMA exposure can cause headaches, coughing and lethargy, according to the EPA.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
I walked down the line, choking and coughing like everyone else, and finally, there he was.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
