cough up
verb
coughed up; coughing up; coughs up
2
: to lose possession of (a ball or puck) during a game
the quarterback coughed up the ball
Synonyms
Examples of cough up in a Sentence
finally got my brother to cough up the dough he owed me
Recent Examples on the Web
The fires, which have burned the largest land area ever observed in the country, have forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate and coughed up smog that led to air quality warnings across Canada and the eastern United States.
—
Kyle Rempfer, Washington Post, 20 Sep. 2023
Utah was coming off a crushing, 28-27 loss to Washington State in which the Utes coughed up a 21-0 lead.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2023
So Proche picked a terrible time to cough up the ball on a punt return at the Ravens’ 14-yard line, the type of mishap that will remain lodged in Harbaugh’s craw.
—Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 13 Aug. 2023
Max fans who don’t relish the idea of coughing up $9.99 per month more to access the Warner Bros.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 22 Sep. 2023
The service’s success in just 15 months after launching proved that despite Snapchat’s reputation as an app used mainly by teens, users are willing to cough up money for a premium experience on the platform.
—Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 20 Oct. 2023
Unless new users in these locations cough up the dollar, they'll be blocked from accessing basic platform features, including posting, replying, or quoting posts.
—Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 18 Oct. 2023
But in the sixth, with his club up, 2-0, the righthander coughed up the lead.
—Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Sep. 2023
What the Polish diplomats wanted to talk about, however, was not the risk of an assault from Belarus or the war in Ukraine, but a less pressing matter: a demand that Germany cough up more than a trillion dollars to cover damage done by the Nazis during World War II.
—Andrew Higgins, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2023
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Kyle Rempfer, Washington Post, 20 Sep. 2023
Utah was coming off a crushing, 28-27 loss to Washington State in which the Utes coughed up a 21-0 lead.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2023
So Proche picked a terrible time to cough up the ball on a punt return at the Ravens’ 14-yard line, the type of mishap that will remain lodged in Harbaugh’s craw.
—Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 13 Aug. 2023
Max fans who don’t relish the idea of coughing up $9.99 per month more to access the Warner Bros.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 22 Sep. 2023
The service’s success in just 15 months after launching proved that despite Snapchat’s reputation as an app used mainly by teens, users are willing to cough up money for a premium experience on the platform.
—Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 20 Oct. 2023
Unless new users in these locations cough up the dollar, they'll be blocked from accessing basic platform features, including posting, replying, or quoting posts.
—Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 18 Oct. 2023
But in the sixth, with his club up, 2-0, the righthander coughed up the lead.
—Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Sep. 2023
What the Polish diplomats wanted to talk about, however, was not the risk of an assault from Belarus or the war in Ukraine, but a less pressing matter: a demand that Germany cough up more than a trillion dollars to cover damage done by the Nazis during World War II.
—Andrew Higgins, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cough up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1890, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near cough up
Cite this Entry
“Cough up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cough%20up. Accessed 10 Dec. 2023.
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