cough

Fetched 2026-11-03 (cache).

Synonyms: sough, rough, tough, couth, bough, couch, clough, hough, dough, lough, wough

Antonyms: sough, rough, tough, couth, bough, couch, clough, hough, dough, lough, wough

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Verb

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.
   • Sometimes she coughed up blood.
   • He almost coughed himself into a fit.
2. 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.
   • Sometimes she coughed up blood.
3. To cause (oneself or something) to be in a certain condition in the manner described in etymology 1 sense 1.1.
   • He almost coughed himself into a fit.
4. To express (words, etc.) in the manner described in etymology 1 sense 1.1.
5. To surrender (information); to confess. Chiefly followed by up: to give up or hand over (something); especially, to pay up (money).
6. To surrender (information); to confess.
7. Chiefly followed by up: to give up or hand over (something); especially, to pay up (money).
8. 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.
   • I breathed in a lungful of smoke by mistake, and started to cough.
   • The engine coughed and sputtered.
9. 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.
   • I breathed in a lungful of smoke by mistake, and started to cough.
10. To make a noise like a cough.
    • The engine coughed and sputtered.
11. To surrender information; to confess, to spill the beans.

Noun

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 bout of repeated coughing (verb etymology 1 sense 2.1); also, a medical condition that causes one to cough.
   • :
   • whooping cough
   • Sorry, I can’t come to work today—I’ve got a nasty cough.
3. A noise or sound like a cough (etymology 2, noun sense 1).
4. A vocalisation from a bird or other animal resembling a human cough.

Interjection

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.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wiktionary) · cached copy, not a rewrite.