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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Disney wants to bump its fee of however-many dollars per sub, while YouTube TV would just as soon cough up an amount below Disney’s asking price. Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 14 Nov. 2025 When in the 1980s Hanai (Watanabe) suffers an attack, coughing up blood onstage as untreated diabetes takes hold of him as well as the realization that his time is up, the impulse is to cover him up with a red drape rather than pierce the onstage decorum. Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 13 Nov. 2025 Thoughts have turned immediately to whether there is a world in which the BBC would have to cough up this colossal figure, which amounts to £760M at current conversion rates. Max Goldbart, Deadline, 11 Nov. 2025 The way the Blue Jackets coughed up quick goals in a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames was a back-to-the-drawing-board type of result. Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for cough up

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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cough up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cough%20up. Accessed 18 Nov. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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