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Cough
Definitions
- 1 Used to represent the sound of a cough (noun sense 1), especially when focusing attention on a following utterance, often an attribution of blame or a euphemism: ahem.
"He was—cough—indisposed."
- 1 A sudden, often involuntary expulsion of air from the lungs through the glottis (causing a short, explosive sound), and out through the mouth.
"Behind me, I heard a distinct, dry cough."
- 2 a sudden noisy expulsion of air from the lungs that clears the air passages; a common symptom of upper respiratory infection or bronchitis or pneumonia or tuberculosis wordnet
- 3 A bout of repeated coughing (verb etymology 1 sense 2.1); also, a medical condition that causes one to cough.
"whooping cough"
- 4 A noise or sound like a cough (etymology 2 sense 1). figuratively
- 5 A vocalisation from a bird or other animal resembling a human cough.
- 1 Sometimes followed by up: to force (something) out of the lungs or throat by pushing air from the lungs through the glottis (causing a short, explosive sound), and out through the mouth. transitive
"Sometimes she coughed up blood."
- 2 exhale abruptly, as when one has a chest cold or congestion wordnet
- 3 To cause (oneself or something) to be in a certain condition in the manner described in etymology 1 sense 1.1. transitive
"He almost coughed himself into a fit."
- 4 To express (words, etc.) in the manner described in etymology 1 sense 1.1. transitive
"No ſtationary ſteeds / Cough their ovvn knell, vvhile heedleſs of the ſound / The ſilent circle fan themſelves, and quake."
- 5 To surrender (information); to confess. figuratively, transitive
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- 6 Chiefly followed by up: to give up or hand over (something); especially, to pay up (money). figuratively, slang, transitive
"By the time you get back the men will all be striking out for the fire, and we'll break for the house and collar the dollars. Everybody cough up what matches he's got."
- 7 To push air from the lungs through the glottis (causing a short, explosive sound) and out through the mouth, usually to expel something blocking or irritating the airway. intransitive
"I breathed in a lungful of smoke by mistake, and started to cough."
- 8 To make a noise like a cough. intransitive
"The engine coughed and sputtered."
- 9 To surrender information; to confess, to spill the beans. intransitive, slang
Etymology
From Middle English coughen, coghen (“to cough; to vomit”) [and other forms], from Old English *cohhian (compare Old English cohhetan (“to bluster; to riot; to cough (?)”)), from Proto-West Germanic *kuh- (“to cough”), ultimately of onomatopoeic origin. Cognates * Middle Dutch cuchen (“to cough”) (modern Dutch kuchen (“to cough”); German Low German kuchen (“to cough”)) * Middle High German kûchen (“to breathe (on); to exhale”), kîchen (“to breathe with difficulty”) (modern German keichen, keuchen (“to breathe with difficulty; to gasp, pant”)) * Spanish cof (“coughing sound”) * West Frisian kiche (“to cough”), kochelje (“to cough persistently”)
The noun is derived from Middle English cough (“a cough; illness causing coughing”) [and other forms], from coughen (verb): see etymology 1. The interjection is probably derived from the noun.
The noun is derived from Middle English cough (“a cough; illness causing coughing”) [and other forms], from coughen (verb): see etymology 1. The interjection is probably derived from the noun.
See also for "cough"
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