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

Synonyms of cough up

• relinquish
• render
• surrender
• deliver

Examples of cough up in a Sentence

finally got my brother to cough up the dough he owed me

Recent Examples on the Web

If coughed up, the bond would help cover large swaths of the $7 million-a-day ticking fee Paramount Skydance is obliged to pay to WBD shareholders starting in a few weeks, plus other costs baked into the ParaBros agreement. — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026

Russ could brick a wild bank shot, cough up the ball in crunch time and make fans want to launch their remotes through the TV. — Alejandro Avila Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026

The 42-year-old righty has allowed nine homers in eight starts this season, permitting at least one in five turns and coughing up multiple home runs in three. — Josh Shepardson, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026

This bet took a beating when relievers Ryan Yarbrough and Angel Chivilli combined to cough up seven runs in Monday’s eighth inning. — Brendan Kuty, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1890, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for cough up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup