Definition of Cough up

1. Verb. Give reluctantly. "He coughed up some money for his children's tuition"

Exact synonyms: Pony Up, Spit Up
Generic synonyms: Give

2. Verb. Discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth.
Exact synonyms: Cough Out, Expectorate, Spit Out, Spit Up
Specialized synonyms: Cough, Ptyalise, Ptyalize, Spew, Spit, Spue, Spit Out, Splutter, Sputter
Generic synonyms: Discharge, Eject, Exhaust, Expel, Release
Derivative terms: Expectoration, Expectoration, Expectorator

Definition of Cough up

1. Verb. to expel from the lungs, throat, etc. by coughing ¹

2. Verb. (idiomatic) to pay money, to disburse, usually reluctantly or with difficulty. ¹

3. Verb. (idiomatic) to lose a competition by one's own mistakes, usually near the end of the contest ¹

4. Verb. (transitive idiomatic) To spill, to fumble ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Cough Up

cougarlike
cougars
cough
cough drop
cough fracture
cough mixture
cough mixtures
cough out
cough reflex
cough suppressant
cough syrup
cough syrups
cough up (current term)
coughdrop
coughdrops
coughed
coughed up
cougher
coughers
coughing
coughing up
coughingly
coughings
coughs
coughs up
coughy
couguar

Literary usage of Cough up

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Transactions of the Association of American Physicians by Association of American Physicians (1897)
"(A) The patient, a male, aged forty-nine years, commenced to cough up bile in the latter part of March, and this continued until June, when it gradually ..."

2. Lectures on practical medicine and pathology, 1894 by Francis Delafield (1894)
"But these cases must be looked on with suspicion. A woman may cough up blood on several occasions instead of menstruating and then go ..."

3. A Text-book of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, Characteristic, Analytical by Allen Corson Cowperthwaite (1909)
"Mastitis. Respiratory Organs.—Loss of voice; hoarseness. Asthma, with gastric derangements; mucus white and hard to cough up. ..."

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