cough
Americanverb (used without object)
-
coughs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
coughed,
past participle, past
-
coughing
present participle
-
to expel air from the lungs suddenly with a harsh noise, often involuntarily.
-
(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)
-
coughs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
coughed,
past participle, past
-
coughing
present participle
noun
-
coughs
plural
-
the act or sound of coughing.
-
an illness characterized by frequent coughing.
-
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
-
an act, instance, or sound of coughing
-
a condition of the lungs or throat that causes frequent coughing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
coughsimple
-
coughssimple
-
have coughedperfect
-
has coughedperfect
-
am coughingprogressive
-
are coughingprogressive
-
is coughingprogressive
-
have been coughingperfect progressive
-
has been coughingperfect progressive
Past
-
coughedsimple
-
had coughedperfect
-
was coughingprogressive
-
were coughingprogressive
-
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:
The memo encouraged donors to cough up another $17 million over the next two weeks.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
Curri's eight-year-old niece Ermi said "all the children cough" in her class at school.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Measles is highly contagious, causing high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes, followed by a rash.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
His homeowners association fees have been creeping up to nearly $470 per month, and that’s on top of expenses stemming from special assessments he’s had to cough up.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
My mom thumped me on the back as I leaned forward to cough up a lung into my napkin.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
“If you designed your Muse avatar or if you designed your Dot in the likeness of your pet, perhaps you would feel a little bit more forgiving if your pet coughs up a hairball, right?”
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026
The measles spreads easily through the air when an infected person breathes, talks, coughs or sneezes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
It had the power to soothe the roughest of sore throats and quiet the phlegmiest of coughs.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
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
Her coughs slowed down, but my heart sped up.
From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya
But they were roughly even so they coughed up for the meal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
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
Wales coughed up possession from the kick-off and when the ball went wide, Ravutaumada made amends by sprinting over to score to reduce the deficit to one point.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 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
They coughed and complained about the bitter taste before they ran one by one into the restroom and threw up the nastiness in their stomachs.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
“Or whatever the digital version of coughing up a hairball is.”
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026
Larger nodules can cause shortness of breath, chest pain and persistent coughing -- sometimes with blood.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
Symptoms include shortness of breath and coughing, often with blood-tainted phlegm.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
She had gone back to the raisin fields days after she was exposed, even though her throat was sore and she was coughing, because she needed the money.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
But then the coughing starts up again, and it sounds even worse than before.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
