What does "cough" mean?
Cough: To expel from the lungs or air passages by coughing; -- followed by up; as, to cough up phlegm.
Additional senses
- 2.To bring to a specified state by coughing; as, he coughed himself hoarse. To cough down, to silence or put down (an objectionable speaker) by simulated coughing.
- 3.A sudden, noisy, and violent expulsion of air from the chest, caused by irritation in the air passages, or by the reflex action of nervous or gastric disorder, etc.
- 4.The more or less frequent repetition of coughing, constituting a symptom of disease. Stomach cough, Ear cough, cough due to irritation in the stomach or ear.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00