cough
[noun]
Synonyms:
- frog or tickle in one's throat, bark, hack
[verb]
Synonyms:
- clear one's throat, bark, hack

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. cough¹ /kɒf $ kɒːf/ verb [intransitive]
[Date: 1300-1400; Origin: From an unrecorded Old English cohhian]

1. to suddenly push air out of your throat with a short sound, often repeatedly:
Matthew coughed and cleared his throat.
I think I’m getting a cold or flu – I’ve been coughing and sneezing all day.

2. to make a sudden sound like someone coughing:
The engine coughed and spluttered, then stopped altogether.
cough up phrasal verb

1. informal to give someone money, information etc when you do not really want to:
Come on, cough up.
cough something ↔ up
Insurance companies had to cough up £10 million in storm damage claims.

2. cough something ↔ up to push something out of your throat or lungs into your mouth:
You must go to the doctor if you’re coughing up blood.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. cough² noun [countable]

1. a medical condition that makes you cough a lot:
He's got a bad cough.
Symptoms include a sore throat and a nasty cough.
cough medicine

2. [countable] the action or sound made when you cough:
Stuart gave an embarrassed cough.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

cough
noun
ADJ. little, polite, slight The butler gave a little cough to announce his presence.
violent | bad, nasty | chesty, croupy | barking, dry, hacking, racking, rasping | persistent | smoker's He had a smoker's cough and nicotine-yellowed fingers.
VERB + COUGH give He gave a slight, apologetic cough and said, ‘Excuse me.’
have, suffer from | catch, develop, get
COUGH + NOUN medicine, mixture, sweet
 ⇒ Special page at ILLNESS

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

cough
verb
ADV. a bit, a little, slightly | apologetically, discreetly, nervously, politely | loudly, violently | up He vomited and began coughing up blood.
PHRASES cough and splutter The whisky made her cough and splutter.
a coughing fit He had a coughing fit and couldn't speak for a few moments.
cough into life (figurative) The old engine coughed into life.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

cough

have (got) a cough
I’ve had a cough for weeks now.
get/catch a cough
A lot of people get coughs at this time of year.
a bad cough
Jason’s at home with a bad cough.
a nasty/violent cough (=a very bad cough)
a smoker's cough (=one caused by smoking)
a dry cough (=one that does not produce any liquid)
a loose cough (=one that produces liquid)
a chesty cough British English (=one that affects your chest)
a hacking cough (=a bad cough with an unpleasant sound)
a slight cough (=one that is not very serious)
He has a slight cough but I don’t think he’s really ill.
a tickly cough (=one that keeps irritating your throat)
a persistent cough (=one that is difficult to cure)
cough medicine/cough mixture/cough syrup (=liquid containing medicine for a cough)
You should take some cough medicine.
a cough drop (also a cough sweet British English) (=a sweet you suck to make a cough less irritating)
He was sucking on a cough sweet.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲