as in to relinquish
to give (something) over to the control or possession of another usually under duress
finally got my brother to cough up the dough he owed me
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Recent Examples of cough up
The two-time champion was on the bathroom floor coughing up blood and experiencing shortness of breath, according to an unidentified man on the phone.
—
Zach Dean, FOXNews.com, 23 May 2026
The moment is reminiscent of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) coughing up that leftover Demogorgon tentacle after he’s been rescued at the end of Stranger Things Season 1.
—Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 22 May 2026
He was taken to the hospital on Wednesday night, based on 911 calls obtained by PEOPLE, in which a man helping Busch said the NASCAR star was coughing up blood and struggling to breathe.
—Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 22 May 2026
But a year after coughing up a 14-point lead in the final minutes of regulation and losing to Indiana in OT in Game 1 of the conference finals on their home court, the Knicks found their offense just in time.
—CBS News, 19 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for cough up
Zach Dean, FOXNews.com, 23 May 2026
The moment is reminiscent of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) coughing up that leftover Demogorgon tentacle after he’s been rescued at the end of Stranger Things Season 1.
—Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 22 May 2026
He was taken to the hospital on Wednesday night, based on 911 calls obtained by PEOPLE, in which a man helping Busch said the NASCAR star was coughing up blood and struggling to breathe.
—Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 22 May 2026
But a year after coughing up a 14-point lead in the final minutes of regulation and losing to Indiana in OT in Game 1 of the conference finals on their home court, the Knicks found their offense just in time.
—CBS News, 19 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for cough up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cough up
Verb
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Given the short field, Houston punched in a touchdown, never relinquishing the lead.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
8 Dec. 2025
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Demobilization would mean relinquishing power, not trading it for political participation.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
8 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Prior to that, Copilot generated its response using raw HTML, which is temporarily rendered in the browser DOM.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
16 June 2026
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Paramedics responded and rendered aid to the man before pronouncing him dead at the scene.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
16 June 2026
Verb
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Among the rights Carr surrendered with her plea was being able to vote in elections until her voting rights are restored.—
Chris Ramirez,
jsonline.com,
11 Dec. 2025
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The Kansas City Chiefs have officially surrendered control of their playoff chances.—
Pete Sweeney,
Kansas City Star,
11 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The verdict was delivered amid difficult personal circumstances for Mette-Marit, Hoiby’s mother, who needs a lung transplant for pulmonary fibrosis.—
Reuters,
CNN Money,
15 June 2026
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On June 14, the Sex in the City alum swung by Northwestern University to deliver the graduating class's commencement speech.—
Chanel Vargas,
InStyle,
14 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cough up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cough%20up. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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