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
Again, special teams blunders set the defense up in poor position, but the defense ultimately coughed up big gains on the ground.
—
Mike Kaye
september 28, Charlotte Observer, 28 Sep. 2025
Newborns and frail older people often have a hard time coughing up the mucus, Hopkins says.
—Liz Szabo, Scientific American, 23 Sep. 2025
Investors reacted by bidding shares of Pfizer higher in Monday morning trading, an atypical reaction to when a company is coughing up a big chunk of dough for an acquisition.
—John Melloy, CNBC, 22 Sep. 2025
Per The New York Times, he was diagnosed with the illness after coughing up blood onto his piano.
—Marina Watts, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cough up
Mike Kaye
september 28, Charlotte Observer, 28 Sep. 2025
Newborns and frail older people often have a hard time coughing up the mucus, Hopkins says.
—Liz Szabo, Scientific American, 23 Sep. 2025
Investors reacted by bidding shares of Pfizer higher in Monday morning trading, an atypical reaction to when a company is coughing up a big chunk of dough for an acquisition.
—John Melloy, CNBC, 22 Sep. 2025
Per The New York Times, he was diagnosed with the illness after coughing up blood onto his piano.
—Marina Watts, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cough up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cough up
Verb
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Sol Price had relinquished his official leadership role, and Robert’s fifteen-year-old son had recently died of cancer, devastating the family.—
Molly Fischer,
New Yorker,
20 Oct. 2025
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In Madagascar, Rajoelina has shown no signs of relinquishing power following his removal.—
Nimi Princewill,
CNN Money,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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False or deceptive votes and/or acts will render the respective Finalist ineligible.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
16 Oct. 2025
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If enough satellites are in orbit, this debris could set off a chain reaction, rendering the environment around Earth practically impassable.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Steelers' defense was absolutely shredded by 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco and the Cincinnati Bengals' offense on Thursday night, surrendering 470 total yards in the 33-31 loss.—
Matt Audilet,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 Oct. 2025
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Resistance from African Leaders As youth protests grow stronger, African governments, particularly those that are military-led, are unlikely to surrender their positions without a fight.—
Nimi Princewill,
CNN Money,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Dreadnought vessels, due to enter service from the early 2030s, are the replacement for the Vanguard-class submarines, which currently deliver the Continuous At Sea Deterrent (CASD) for the Royal Navy.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Oct. 2025
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Let’s give some love to the guys who cleared the lanes for McCaffrey to deliver a vintage performance.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cough up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cough%20up. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
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