coughed; coughing; coughs
1
: to expel air from the lungs suddenly with a sharp, short noise : to emit a cough (see cough entry 2 sense 1)
The dust made him cough repeatedly.
2
: to make a noise like that of coughing
The engine coughed and sputtered and then stopped.
: to expel by coughing
—often used with up
cough up mucus
1
: a sudden, sharp-sounding expulsion of air from the lungs acting as a protective mechanism to clear the air passages or as a symptom of pulmonary disturbance
2
: a condition marked by repeated or frequent coughing
She has a bad cough.
Examples of cough in a Sentence
Verb
She was coughing and sneezing all day.
The dust made him cough.
The engine coughed and sputtered and then stopped.
Noun
He has a cough and a cold.
They both have bad coughs.
I heard a cough from the back of the church.
Recent Examples on the Web
Roxanne Khamsi, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2025
The hedgehog licked it up and then started to cough, an eerily human sound, as if an old man were coughing.
—Yiyun Li, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2025
William Lambers, Newsweek, 9 Mar. 2025
The hedgehog licked it up and then started to cough, an eerily human sound, as if an old man were coughing.
—Yiyun Li, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cough
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Verb
But just the other week, while I was seated on the metro, a woman coughed on my head.
—Roxanne Khamsi, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2025
The hedgehog licked it up and then started to cough, an eerily human sound, as if an old man were coughing.
—Yiyun Li, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2025
Noun
The most common symptoms are a high fever that can spike to over 104 degrees, a cough, a runny nose, and red, watery eyes.
—William Lambers, Newsweek, 9 Mar. 2025
The hedgehog licked it up and then started to cough, an eerily human sound, as if an old man were coughing.
—Yiyun Li, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cough
Video
A Look at Uncommon Onomatopoeia
Some imitative words are more surprising than others
Cite this Entry
“Cough.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cough. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cough
1 of 2 verb1
: to force air from the lungs with a sharp short noise or series of noises
2
: to get rid of by coughing
cough up mucus
3
: to make a noise like that of coughing
an engine coughing and sputtering
cough
2 of 2 noun1
: a condition marked by repeated or frequent coughing
2
: an act or sound of coughing
Medical Definition
cough
1 of 2 intransitive verb
: to expel air from the lungs suddenly with a sharp, short noise usually in a series of efforts
: to expel by coughing
—often used with up
cough up mucus
cough
2 of 2 noun1
: a condition marked by repeated, frequent coughing
he has a bad cough
2
: a sudden, sharp-sounding expulsion of air from the lungs acting as a protective mechanism to clear the air passages or as a symptom of pulmonary disturbance
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