cough

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kɒf/ (Conservative RP) IPA(key): /kɔːf/ (General American) enPR: kôf, IPA(key): /kɔf/ (Dublin) IPA(key): /kɑʔf/ (cot–caught merger) enPR: kŏf, IPA(key): /kɑf/ (South Asia) IPA(key): /kɔf/, /kəf/ Homophone: qoph (cot–caught merger) Rhymes: -ɒf, -ɔːf, -ɑːf, -ʌf === Etymology 1 === From Middle English coughen, coghen (“to cough; to vomit”) [and other forms], from Old English *cohhian (compare Old English cohhetan (“to bluster; to riot; to cough (?)”)), from Proto-West Germanic *kuh- (“to cough”), ultimately of onomatopoeic origin. ==== Verb ==== cough (third-person singular simple present coughs, present participle coughing, simple past and past participle coughed) (transitive, medicine) Sometimes followed by up: to force (something) out of the lungs or throat by pushing air from the lungs through the glottis (causing a short, explosive sound), and out through the mouth. To cause (oneself or something) to be in a certain condition in the manner described in etymology 1 sense 1.1. To express (words, etc.) in the manner described in etymology 1 sense 1.1. (figurative) To surrender (information); to confess. (originally US, slang) Chiefly followed by up: to give up or hand over (something); especially, to pay up (money). (intransitive) To push air from the lungs through the glottis (causing a short, explosive sound) and out through the mouth, usually to expel something blocking or irritating the airway. To make a noise like a cough. (originally US, slang) To surrender information; to confess, to spill the beans. ===== Conjugation ===== ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === The noun is derived from Middle English cough (“a cough; illness causing coughing”) [and other forms], from coughen (verb): see etymology 1. The interjection is probably derived from the noun. ==== Noun ==== cough (plural coughs) A sudden, often involuntary expulsion of air from the lungs through the glottis (causing a short, explosive sound), and out through the mouth. A bout of repeated coughing (verb etymology 1 sense 2.1); also, a medical condition that causes one to cough. (medical condition): Synonym: tussis (figurative) A noise or sound like a cough (etymology 2 sense 1). A vocalisation from a bird or other animal resembling a human cough. ===== Hyponyms ===== ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Interjection ==== cough Used to represent the sound of a cough (noun sense 1), especially when focusing attention on a following utterance, often an attribution of blame or a euphemism: ahem. ===== Translations ===== === References === === Further reading === cough on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === Anagrams === gouch == Middle English == === Alternative forms === cogh, couwe, coght, couth === Etymology === From coughen. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /kɔu̯x/, /kɔx/, /kɔu̯/ === Noun === cough (uncountable) coughing ==== Descendants ==== English: cough Yola: keough ==== References ==== “cough, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.