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.
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
As demand persists, some wealthy travelers are deciding a luxury seat isn’t sufficient to justify the crowds and flight delays that can come with commercial travel and choose to cough up thousands to fly private.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 21, 2026
To secure membership, nations are expected to cough up $1 billion in dues.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2026
"I will cough up whatever I need to," says Prof Smith.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
She stopped to cough up what sounded like a large, wet worm from her throat.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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.
