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 Yet many experts believe there is still a strong chance MH370’s wreckage could be located, if someone looks hard enough and – crucially – coughs up the staggering amount of money that might be required to achieve that goal. Chris Lau, CNN, 7 Mar. 2024 Convincing consumers to cough up for AI could also be imperative for Google. Paresh Dave, WIRED, 8 Feb. 2024 Symptoms of active tuberculosis include a cough lasting three weeks or more, coughing up blood, fever, night sweats and fatigue, according to the Department of Health. Al Gaspeny, arkansasonline.com, 17 Feb. 2024 What are the symptoms of active TB? Symptoms include a bad cough that lasts three or more weeks, pain in the chest and coughing up blood or phlegm. Kelly Meyerhofer, Journal Sentinel, 7 Feb. 2024 The outlet said the scan came after Krayzie Bone had been coughing up blood. Dominique Fluker, Essence, 9 Oct. 2023 Google is coughing up big money to presumably feed its AI all the weird user posts Reddit has to offer. Kylie Robison, Fortune, 23 Feb. 2024 In their last two games before the All-Star break, Golden State coughed up a big fourth-quarter lead to the Clippers, then nearly collapsed again in Utah. Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 23 Feb. 2024 After the Wild coughed up a two-goal, third-period lead on Friday, the veteran will have to wait at least a little longer. John Shipley, Twin Cities, 13 Jan. 2024

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 28 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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