cough up

verb

coughed up; coughing up; coughs up

transitive verb

1
: hand over, deliver
cough up the money
2
: to lose possession of (a ball or puck) during a game
the quarterback coughed up the ball

Examples of cough up in a Sentence

finally got my brother to cough up the dough he owed me
Recent Examples on the Web But there hardly could be starker evidence than that local politicians, led by Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi, are proposing to have taxpayers cough up more money — potentially lots of it — to help lower-income households cover their property tax bills. The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 13 Sep. 2024 Buehler then coughed up three runs in the second, an inning that Jake Bauers opened with a home run to right field. Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2024 But Matos struck out with two runners on to end the inning, reliever Erik Miller coughed up a run in the top of the ninth, and Encarnacion couldn’t drive in the game-tying run from second with the Giants’ last licks. Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 3 Sep. 2024 One report by Intuit Credit Karma found that roughly 2 in 5 Americans have purchased products advertised on social media in the past year, and nearly a quarter — 23% — of them coughed up $1,000 or more on those purchases. Jessica Dickler, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for cough up 

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of cough up was in 1890

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 12 Oct. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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