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

Jordan Harris, making his Stanley Cup playoff debut, coughed up the puck while trying to break out against Doan. —Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026

There was nothing to smile about in Atlanta, the scene of the crime for a Knicks team that coughed up home-court advantage in Game 2, then fell into a 1-2 series deficit in its first-round playoff matchup in a crushing 109-108 loss to the Hawks on Thursday. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 24 Apr. 2026

Symptoms of a blood clot include swelling, shortness of breath, coughing up blood and varicose vein changes, according to the Cleveland Clinic. —Gina Kalsi, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026

Denver held the Wolves to 105 points in a Game 1 win but coughed up a 19-point lead in Game 2. —Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 21 Apr. 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