cough
Americanverb (used without object)
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coughs,
present (3rd person singular)
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coughed,
past participle, past
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coughing
present participle
-
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)
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coughs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
coughed,
past participle, past
-
coughing
present participle
noun
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coughs
plural
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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
-
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
-
have been coughingperfect progressive
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has been coughingperfect progressive
Past
-
coughedsimple
-
had coughedperfect
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was coughingprogressive
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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:
Sustained demand signals to airlines that passengers are willing to cough up the extra cash to secure a seat, said Peter Vlitas, executive vice president of partner relations for international travel brand Internova Travel Group.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
Individuals who develop symptoms of measles, including fever, cough, runny nose or a rash, should call their healthcare provider before arriving for care in person.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
Net profit in the April-June period slumped 70 percent to £435 million compared with the 2025 second quarter after the company abandoned a chronic cough treatment, GSK said in an earnings statement.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Ten-year-old Francesca has a persistent cough and struggles to swallow.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
James made a noise halfway between a sniff and a cough.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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
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
At first I thought he was choking on his tongue, except there was a rhythm to his sputtering coughs, —puhh, puh-CHAH, puh-puhhh, puh-CHAH—over which Worm began to rap.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
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
The Spurs connected on just four of 20 shots in the third and coughed up five turnovers after having just two in the first half.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 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
In at number one, though, is a force who made the £80m Real Madrid coughed up to prise him from Manchester United in 2009 look like pennies.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
He coughed and sputtered, swallowing large gulps of river water.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
"I felt very ill because I have asthma. I started coughing and I threw up," she told AFP at a gymnasium in the northern Madrid suburb of Alcobendas.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Since March, government figures show nearly 750 people, mostly children, have died from the highly contagious disease, which spreads easily through breathing, coughing or sneezing.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
They will watch the death toll rapidly rise one afternoon and be the first to make reservations for socially distanced indoor dining the very same evening, coughing the whole time.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
If inhaled at high levels, fumes can aggravate a person’s lungs, causing coughing, wheezing and chest tightness.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2026
“I heard Connie start coughing like she was choking, so I woke up . . .” “Then the closet door burst open and smoke started pouring out ”
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
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.
