Meaning of "cough" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD COUGH

Old English cohhetten; related to Middle Dutch kochen, Middle High German kūchen to wheeze; probably of imitative origin.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF COUGH

cough  [kɒf]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF COUGH

Cough is a verb and can also act as a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb cough in English.

WHAT DOES COUGH MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Cough

A cough ( pronunciation (help·info) Latin: tussis), is a sudden and often repetitively occurring reflex which helps to clear the large breathing passages from secretions, irritants, foreign particles and microbes. The cough reflex consists of three phases: an inhalation, a forced exhalation against a closed glottis, and a violent release of air from the lungs following opening of the glottis, usually accompanied by a distinctive sound. Coughing is either voluntary or involuntary. Frequent coughing usually indicates the presence of a disease. Many viruses and bacteria benefit evolutionarily by causing the host to cough, which helps to spread the disease to new hosts. Most of the time, irregular coughing is caused by a respiratory tract infection but can also be triggered by choking, smoking, air pollution, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease, post-nasal drip, chronic bronchitis, lung tumors, heart failure and medications such as ACE inhibitors. Treatment should target the cause; for example, smoking cessation or discontinuing ACE inhibitors.

Definition of cough in the English dictionary

The first definition of cough in the dictionary is to expel air or solid matter from the lungs abruptly and explosively through the partially closed vocal chords. Other definition of cough is to make a sound similar to this. Cough is also to utter or express with a cough or coughs.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO COUGH

PRESENT

Present

I cough

you cough

he/she/it coughs

we cough

you cough

they cough

Present continuous

I am coughing

you are coughing

he/she/it is coughing

we are coughing

you are coughing

they are coughing

Present perfect

I have coughed

you have coughed

he/she/it has coughed

we have coughed

you have coughed

they have coughed

Present perfect continuous

I have been coughing

you have been coughing

he/she/it has been coughing

we have been coughing

you have been coughing

they have been coughing

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I coughed

you coughed

he/she/it coughed

we coughed

you coughed

they coughed

Past continuous

I was coughing

you were coughing

he/she/it was coughing

we were coughing

you were coughing

they were coughing

Past perfect

I had coughed

you had coughed

he/she/it had coughed

we had coughed

you had coughed

they had coughed

Past perfect continuous

I had been coughing

you had been coughing

he/she/it had been coughing

we had been coughing

you had been coughing

they had been coughing

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will cough

you will cough

he/she/it will cough

we will cough

you will cough

they will cough

Future continuous

I will be coughing

you will be coughing

he/she/it will be coughing

we will be coughing

you will be coughing

they will be coughing

Future perfect

I will have coughed

you will have coughed

he/she/it will have coughed

we will have coughed

you will have coughed

they will have coughed

Future perfect continuous

I will have been coughing

you will have been coughing

he/she/it will have been coughing

we will have been coughing

you will have been coughing

they will have been coughing

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would cough

you would cough

he/she/it would cough

we would cough

you would cough

they would cough

Conditional continuous

I would be coughing

you would be coughing

he/she/it would be coughing

we would be coughing

you would be coughing

they would be coughing

Conditional perfect

I would have cough

you would have cough

he/she/it would have cough

we would have cough

you would have cough

they would have cough

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been coughing

you would have been coughing

he/she/it would have been coughing

we would have been coughing

you would have been coughing

they would have been coughing

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you cough
we let´s cough
you cough

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to cough

Past participle

coughed

Present Participle

coughing

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «COUGH»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «cough» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of cough

bark · hack · hawk · hem

TRANSLATION OF COUGH

Find out the translation of cough to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of cough from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «cough» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 咳嗽
• Translator English - Spanish: tos
• English: cough
• Translator English - Hindi: खांसी
• Translator English - Arabic: سُعَال
• Translator English - Russian: кашель
• Translator English - Portuguese: tosse
• Translator English - Bengali: কাশি
• Translator English - French: toux
• Translator English - Malay: Batuk
• Translator English - German: Husten
• Translator English - Japanese: 咳
• Translator English - Korean: 기침
• Translator English - Javanese: watuk
• Translator English - Vietnamese: chứng ho
• Translator English - Tamil: இருமல்
• Translator English - Marathi: खोकला
• Translator English - Turkish: öksürük
• Translator English - Italian: tosse
• Translator English - Polish: kaszel
• Translator English - Ukrainian: кашель
• Translator English - Romanian: tuse
• Translator English - Greek: βήχας
• Translator English - Afrikaans: hoes
• Translator English - Swedish: hosta
• Translator English - Norwegian: hoste

8 QUOTES WITH «COUGH»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word cough.

1

Daniel Baldwin

I tell people, if you really want me to look that good, why don't you cough up about $2 million more and hire Alec or Billy? If you want me to do it, this is what you get.

2

Lewis Clarke

I've been through the entire list of Polar problems. I knew it would be hard, but it's harder than I ever thought it would be. I've suffered from blisters, a high-altitude cough, frost nip, and I even managed to break a ski they told me was unbreakable.

3

Ezekiel Emanuel

Childhood vaccines are one of the great triumphs of modern medicine. Indeed, parents whose children are vaccinated no longer have to worry about their child's death or disability from whooping cough, polio, diphtheria, hepatitis, or a host of other infections.

4

Anthony Fauci

Whooping cough is not a mild disease. Whooping cough, before the vaccination, could make you very, very sick. First of all, there was a chance you could die from it - small chance, not a big chance. You would be coughing and coughing. It wouldn't last for a few days, like a cold.

5

Rupert Grint

I think coughing up slugs was quite hard. Ron has a scene where he has to cough up these giant slugs.

6

George Herbert

Love and a cough cannot be hid.

7

Alice Miller

A child too, can never grasp the fact that the same mother who cooks so well, is so concerned about his cough, and helps so kindly with his homework, in some circumstance has no more feeling than a wall of his hidden inner world.

8

Gene Siskel

I would rather turn my head and cough than see any part of 'Patch Adams' again. The title of this movie should have been 'Punch Adams!'

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «COUGH»

Discover the use of cough in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to cough and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Cough: Causes, Mechanisms and Therapy

This volume will appeal to all those involved in the treatment of respiratory disease, particularly those in hospital respiratory units, and will also be of use to interested general practitioners.

Kian Fan Chung, John G. Widdicombe, Homer A. Boushey, 2008

Pharmacology and Therapeutics of Cough

This book shows that basic studies are pointing to many potentially valuable approaches to the treatment of cough, based on understanding the basic peripheral receptor mechanisms, the brainstem pathways in the control of cough, and the ...

K. Fan Chung, John Widdicombe, 2008

Shakespeare's Tremor and Orwell's Cough: The Medical Lives ...

Did writing Nineteen Eighty-Four actually kill George Orwell? The Bard meets House, M.D. in this fascinating untold story of the impact of disease on the lives and works of some the finest writers in the English language.

John J. Ross, MD, 2012

Whooping Cough

Presents an introduction to whooping cough, describing its history, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment, and what can be done to prevent its spread.

Patrick G. Guilfoile, Hilary Babcock, 2010

Whooping Cough - A Journey Towards Truth

This book further reveals the truth surrounding Whooping Cough (Pertussis) Vaccines.

Paul Day, 2008

Cough: An Interdisciplinary Problem, An Issue of ...

Both acute and chronic cough are responsible for a significant number of ambulatory medical visits annually.

Kenneth W. Altman, Richard S. Irwin, 2010

Primary Care Medicine: Office Evaluation and Management of ...

35. Man CiCW, Hsu K, Sproule BJ. Effect of alprazolam on exercise and dyspnea in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease. Chest 1986;90:832. (No benefit was found in patients who had normal oxygen tension values.) Cough is one of ...

Allan H. Goroll, Albert G. Mulley, 2009

Acute and Chronic Cough

With chapters written by acknowledged authorities in the field, this handbook covers current and potential therapeutic agents, various methodologies to measure cough reflex sensitivity, and clinical approaches for the assessment of chronic ...

Anthony E. Redington, Alyn H. Morice, 2005

Asthma: Social and Psychological Factors and Psychosomatic ...

Differentiation of psychogenic cough from asthma Features of psychogenic cough Differentiation from asthma Barking cough without wheeze Cough every 5 –10 min Not bothered by cough – no respiratory distress Cough does not awaken  ...

E. Sherwood Brown, 2003

Principles of Pulmonary Medicine

COUGH Cough is a symptom that everyone has experienced at some point. It is a physiologic mechanism for clearing and protecting the airway and does not necessarily imply disease. Normally, cough is protective against food or other ...

Steven E. Weinberger, Barbara A. Cockrill, Jess Mandel, 2008

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «COUGH»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term cough is used in the context of the following news items.

Whooping cough cases on the rise in Spokane Co.

SPOKANE, Wash. – Health officials said whopping cough is on the rise in Spokane County and they are urging people to get vaccinated ... «KREM.com, Jul 15»

Watford will have to cough up £6million for Rudy Gestede as …

Watford have been told by Blackburn to cough up at least £6million for striker Rudy Gestede. Watford have spoken to Blackburn and Rovers ... «Mirror.co.uk, Jul 15»

Company car speeders to be forced to cough up

In future those caught speeding in a company car will no longer be able to hide behind the company that leased their employer the car if their ... «Expatica Belguim, Jul 15»

Floyd Mayweather stripped of welter-weight title because he refused …

Floyd Mayweather stripped of welter-weight title because he refused to cough up $200K. By Matt Finn. Published July 07, 2015. Fox News Latino. «Fox News Latino, Jul 15»

FDA looking into the side effects of cough syrup on kids

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Cough suppressants even some of the over the country kind contain opioids which can mean trouble for a child's ... «KMBZ, Jul 15»

Mechanisms of Cough-Provocation and Cough-Resolution in …

Cough and deglutition are protective mechanisms that defend against aspiration. We identified mechanisms associated with cough provocation as well as those ... «Nature.com, Jul 15»

Children's cough syrup: FDA to re-examine children' cough syrups

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Wednesday that it would re-evaluate the safety of cough syrup use, especially those that ... «ChristianToday, Jul 15»

Escambia Health Department: Summer Whooping Cough Cases On …

Pertussis, commonly known as “whooping cough,” is a vaccine-preventable illness, but can be highly contagious to non-vaccinated and ... «NorthEscambia.com, Jul 15»

DC Week: Payment Update from CMS, FDA Eyes Codeine Cough …

The FDA announced it is looking into potential breathing difficulties triggered by children's codeine cough syrup. Two congressmen launched ... «MedPage Today, Jul 15»

FDA to evaluate risk of codeine cough and cold meds for children

The move comes after the European Medicines Agency said in April that such medications "must not be used to treat cough and cold in children ... «CNN, Jul 15»