Basic+ Word of the Day: cough

cough (verb, noun) past tense: coughed

Cough means ‘to expel air suddenly with a harsh noise.’

• The man behind me in the theater coughed through the whole performance.
• If you cough, it may help you clear your throat.

A cough is the illness characterized by coughing.

• Ashley stayed home from school with a cough and a sore throat.
• The baby was awake all night with a cough.

Common uses

cough up: to give unwillingly. Example: “I saw you put the silver spoon in your pocket; cough it up!”

Did you know?

A cough can also be the sound a machine makes when it is firing improperly. Example: “Bill tried to start the car, but all he heard was a cough.”

In pop culture

Cough syrup is a sweet, liquid medicine that soothes your cough. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could cure all our problems with something as simple as cough syrup? The US TV show, Glee, explores that idea in the song “Cough Syrup.”

There are other meanings of cough.