Cough Definition
kôf, kŏf
coughed, coughing, coughs
verb
coughed, coughing, coughs
To expel air suddenly and noisily from the lungs through the glottis, to clear the air passages or as the result of an involuntary muscle spasm in the throat.
Webster's New World
To expel by coughing.
Webster's New World
To express or utter by coughing.
Webster's New World
To make a noise similar to noisy expulsion of air from the lungs.
The engine coughed and died.
American Heritage
To make a sound like this.
Webster's New World
noun
coughs
The act or sound of coughing.
Webster's New World
A condition, as of the lungs or throat, causing frequent coughing.
Webster's New World
idiom
cough up
- to bring up or eject (phlegm, food, etc.) by coughing
- to hand over (money or the like)
Webster's New World
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Cough
Origin of Cough
-
From Middle English coughen, coghen, from Old English *cohhian (compare Old English cohhetan (“to shout”)), from Proto-Germanic *kuh-. Cognate with Dutch kuchen (“to cough”), German keuchen (“to pant”), Albanian hukat (“pant, gasp”).
From Wiktionary
Middle English coughen ultimately of imitative origin
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Cough Is Also Mentioned In
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