Meaning & use
cough
Last updated
Meanings
verbintransitive
To push air out of your throat suddenly and noisily, often because something is irritating it.
Grammar: No object: She coughed loudly. You can add 'up' to show something comes out: cough up mucus.
Patterns
- cough loudly
- cough up something
- cough into something
The smoke made everyone cough.
He coughed politely to get our attention.
She coughed up some phlegm and felt better.
nouncountable or uncountable
A sudden, noisy release of air from your throat, or the illness that makes you do this often.
Grammar: Countable for a single action: give a cough. Uncountable for the condition: a bad cough.
Patterns
- have a cough
- a bad cough
- a cough medicine
She has a bad cough that won't go away.
The doctor asked if I had a cough or a fever.
He gave a little cough to clear his throat.
Word forms
| third person singular | coughs |
|---|---|
| past tense | coughed |
| past participle | coughed |
| -ing form | coughing |
| plural | coughs |
Common combinations
- cough up
- He coughed up a piece of food that had gone down the wrong way.
- have a cough
- I've had a cough for a week now.
- cough medicine
- The pharmacist gave me some cough medicine.
- cough loudly
- She coughed loudly during the quiet concert.
- a dry cough
- A dry cough can be very irritating.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hack
- A harsh, dry cough; it sounds rougher than a normal cough.
- clear your throat
- To cough slightly to remove something from your throat; it is gentler and more polite than a full cough.
Word family
- coughing noun
- The act or sound of coughing.
- cough drop noun
- A small medicated candy to soothe a cough.
- cougher noun
- A person who coughs, often used in medical contexts.
Commonly confused: cough or coffin? cough or cold?
cough vs coffin
A coffin is a box for a dead body; cough is the sound you make when your throat is irritated. They sound similar but are very different.
cough vs cold
A cold is an illness with a runny nose and sneezing; a cough is a symptom that can come with a cold or other conditions.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
When something comes out of your throat, use 'cough up'. 'Cough' alone does not take a direct object for the thing that comes out. The other prepositions do not fit this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cough”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.