cough up
Britishverb
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informal to surrender (money, information, etc), esp reluctantly
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(tr) to bring into the mouth or eject (phlegm, food, etc) by coughing
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Hand over or relinquish, especially money; pay up. For example, It's time the delinquent members coughed up their dues . [ Slang ; late 1800s]
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Confess or divulge, as in Pretty soon she'd cough up the whole story about last night . This idiom transfers the act of vomiting to telling the entire truth. [ Slang ; late 1800s]
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.
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
Under intense US pressure to cough up more on security, Lai's government has vowed to increase defence spending to five percent of GDP by 2030.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Juries agreed with both plaintiffs, calling for the Meta and other defendants to pay KGM $6 million and cough up $375 million in the more extensive State of New Mexico v.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2026
But Mr. Dylan expects us to cough up nothing but a dime for the jukebox.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
She covered her fece, eyes watering, and tried to cough up the finger of flame that had crawled down her throat.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
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.
