Definitions for cough
kɔf, kɒfcough

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. cough, coughingverb

   a sudden noisy expulsion of air from the lungs that clears the air passages; a common symptom of upper respiratory infection or bronchitis or pneumonia or tuberculosis

2. coughverb

   exhale abruptly, as when one has a chest cold or congestion

   "The smoker coughs all day"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. coughnoun

   A sudden, usually noisy expulsion of air from the lungs, often involuntary.

   Behind me, I heard a distinct, dry cough.

2. coughnoun

   A condition that causes one to cough; a tendency to cough.

   Sorry, I can't come to work today I've got a nasty cough.

3. coughverb

   To push air from the lungs in a quick, noisy explosion.

   I breathed in a load of smoke by mistake, and started to cough.

4. coughverb

   To make a noise like a cough

   The engine coughed and sputtered.

5. Etymology: From a imitative base *kox- (unattested in Old English, but probably present as *cohhian; compare cohhetan). Cognate with Dutch kuchen, German keuchen, Albanian hukat.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. COUGHnoun

   A convulsion of the lungs, vellicated by some sharp serosity. It is pronounced coff.

   Etymology: kuch, Dutch.

   In consumptions of the lungs, when nature cannot expel the cough, men fall into fluxes of the belly, and then they die. Francis Bacon, Natural History, №. 63.

   For his dear sake long restless nights you bore,
   While rattling coughs his heaving vessels tore. Smith.

2. To Coughverb

   To eject by a cough; to expectorate.

   If the matter be to be discharged by expectoration, it must first pass into the substance of the lungs, then into the aspera. arteria, or weasand, and from thence be coughed up, and spit out by the mouth. Richard Wiseman, Surgery.

3. To Coughverb

   To have the lungs convulsed; to make a noise in endeavouring to evacuate the peccant matter from the lungs.

   Etymology: kuchen, Dutch.

   Thou didst drink
   The stale of horses, and the gilded puddle
   Which beasts would cough at. William Shakespeare, Anth. and Cleopatra.

   Thou hast quarrelled with a man for coughing in the street, because he hath wakened thy dog that hath lain asleep in the sun. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.

   The first problem enquireth why a man doth cough, but not an ox or cow; whereas the contrary is often observed. Brown.

   If any humour be discharged upon the lungs, they have a faculty of clearing themselves, and casting it up by coughing. John Ray, on the Creation.

   There are who to my person pay their court,
   I cough like Quintus Horatius Flaccus, and though lean, am short. Alexander Pope, Ep.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Cough

   A cough is a sudden expulsion of air through the large breathing passages which can help clear them of fluids, irritants, foreign particles and microbes. As a protective reflex, coughing can be repetitive with the cough reflex following three phases: an inhalation, a forced exhalation against a closed glottis, and a violent release of air from the lungs following opening of the glottis, usually accompanied by a distinctive sound.Frequent coughing usually indicates the presence of a disease. Many viruses and bacteria benefit, from an evolutionary perspective, by causing the host to cough, which helps to spread the disease to new hosts. Most of the time, irregular coughing is caused by a respiratory tract infection but can also be triggered by choking, smoking, air pollution, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease, post-nasal drip, chronic bronchitis, lung tumors, heart failure and medications such as angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) and beta blockers.Treatment should target the cause; for example, smoking cessation or discontinuing ACE inhibitors. Cough suppressants such as codeine or dextromethorphan are frequently prescribed, but have been demonstrated to have little effect. Other treatment options may target airway inflammation or may promote mucus expectoration. As it is a natural protective reflex, suppressing the cough reflex might have damaging effects, especially if the cough is productive.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Coughverb

   to expel air, or obstructing or irritating matter, from the lungs or air passages, in a noisy and violent manner

2. Coughverb

   to expel from the lungs or air passages by coughing; -- followed by up; as, to cough up phlegm

3. Coughverb

   to bring to a specified state by coughing; as, he coughed himself hoarse

4. Coughverb

   a sudden, noisy, and violent expulsion of air from the chest, caused by irritation in the air passages, or by the reflex action of nervous or gastric disorder, etc

5. Coughverb

   the more or less frequent repetition of coughing, constituting a symptom of disease

6. Etymology: [Cg. D. kuch. See Cough, v. i. ]

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Cough

   A cough, is a sudden and often repetitively occurring reflex which helps to clear the large breathing passages from secretions, irritants, foreign particles and microbes. The cough reflex consists of three phases: an inhalation, a forced exhalation against a closed glottis, and a violent release of air from the lungs following opening of the glottis, usually accompanied by a distinctive sound. Coughing is either voluntary or involuntary. Frequent coughing usually indicates the presence of a disease. Many viruses and bacteria benefit evolutionarily by causing the host to cough, which helps to spread the disease to new hosts. Most of the time, irregular coughing is caused by a respiratory tract infection but can be triggered by choking, smoking, air pollution, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease, post-nasal drip, chronic bronchitis, lung tumors, heart failure and medications such as ACE inhibitors. Treatment should target the cause; for example, smoking cessation or discontinuing ACE inhibitors. Cough suppressants such as codeine or dextromethorphan are frequently prescribed, but have been demonstrated to have little effect. Other treatment options may target airway inflammation or may promote mucus expectoration. As it is a natural protective reflex, suppressing the cough reflex might have damaging effects, especially if the cough is productive.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Cough

   kof, n. an effort of the lungs to throw off injurious matter, accompanied by a harsh sound, proceeding from the throat.—v.i. to make this effort.—v.t. to expel from the throat or lungs by a cough.—ns. Cough′-drop, -loz′enge, a sweetmeat taken to cure coughing; Cough′er; Cough′ing,—Cough down, to drown a speaker's voice by coughing, so that he must stop. [M. E. coughen; cf. Dut. kuchen, Ger. keuchen, keichen, to gasp.]

U.S. National Library of MedicineRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Cough

   A sudden, audible expulsion of air from the lungs through a partially closed glottis, preceded by inhalation. It is a protective response that serves to clear the trachea, bronchi, and/or lungs of irritants and secretions, or to prevent aspiration of foreign materials into the lungs.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. COUGH

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Cough is ranked #107669 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Cough surname appeared 165 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Cough.
   
   93.3% or 154 total occurrences were White.
   3% or 5 total occurrences were of two or more races.

Matched Categories

1. • Expectorate

How to pronounce cough?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say cough in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of cough in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of cough in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of cough in a Sentence

1. Phil Donahue:

   This was a catastrophic injury, tomas was imprisoned in bed. He couldn't even cough.

2. The CDC:

   Relatively few children with COVID-19 are hospitalized, and fewer children than adults experience fever, cough, or shortness of breath.

3. Jaret Davey:

   All owls do regurgitate small little pellets just of indigestible material because, unlike us, where (when) we eat a piece of meat we eat around the bone, birds of prey just eat the whole thing, for the small little bones they can’t digest, they just cough it back up.

4. George Herbert:

   Love and a cough cannot be hid.

5. Brandi Newsome:

   This cough is usually worse than just a mere nuisance, it’s very dry, hacky, and in fits. It kind of reminds you of whooping cough.

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