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
To avoid the lines, customers (including first-time private fliers) are now coughing up large sums to avoid TSA altogether, sometimes to the tune of $34,000, Bloomberg reported.
—
Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 30 Mar. 2026
Minnesota didn’t cower when backed into a corner Wednesday after coughing up an 11 point lead with fewer than four minutes to play in the final frame.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 26 Mar. 2026
An embarrassed Bush was forced to cough up a $130 fine for killing the wrong bird.
—Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 21 Mar. 2026
Then, Nolan’s parents put his fighting skills to the test with a brutal beatdown, but things quickly take a turn as Viltrumites around the planet start coughing up blood.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cough up
Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 30 Mar. 2026
Minnesota didn’t cower when backed into a corner Wednesday after coughing up an 11 point lead with fewer than four minutes to play in the final frame.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 26 Mar. 2026
An embarrassed Bush was forced to cough up a $130 fine for killing the wrong bird.
—Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 21 Mar. 2026
Then, Nolan’s parents put his fighting skills to the test with a brutal beatdown, but things quickly take a turn as Viltrumites around the planet start coughing up blood.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cough up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cough up
Verb
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If the pair are Shea’s biological parents, Score and Mills would like to learn more about them — but not necessarily relinquish custody of Shea, Hatfield said.—
Elizabeth Chuck,
NBC news,
3 Apr. 2026
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In their eyes, the global economy is to blame for their unsatisfactory job prospects, feminism is to blame for their failures with women, minority rights are forcing them to relinquish their privilege as straight men, and so on.—
Miriam Eve Mora,
The Conversation,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Conservationists celebrated when wolves — which were rendered locally extinct in 1924, the same year that the last grizzly was killed — migrated into the state from Oregon 15 years ago.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
8 Apr. 2026
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Many are rendered in his signature teardrop style, where droplets hold fragments of memory and history.—
Jane Horowitz,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Many of those animals are surrendered when their owners can no longer properly care for them, an issue that Alessandro Catenazzi, associate professor of biological science at Florida International University, stressed.—
Julian Camejo,
Miami Herald,
4 Apr. 2026
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Lukáš Dostál surrendered six goals on 29 shots, with culpability to spread around between him and his defense.—
Andrew Knoll,
Oc Register,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The Premier League is working in partnership with White Ribbon UK — a charity engaging men and boys about violence against women — and aims to deliver activity that supports gender equality.—
Cerys Jones,
New York Times,
6 Apr. 2026
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One night, Nathan Calvin, a twenty-nine-year-old lawyer who worked at the nonprofit Encode and had helped craft the bill, was at home having dinner with his wife when a process server arrived to deliver a subpoena from OpenAI.—
Ronan Farrow,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cough up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cough%20up. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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