cough up
verb
Simple meaning
To pay or disburse reluctantly.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kahfuhpSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɑˈfʌp
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
idiomatictransitiveinformal
To reluctantly or unwillingly give.
“He coughed up some money for his children's tuition.”
of money
To pay or disburse reluctantly (perhaps influenced by coffers of money).
To expel from the lungs, throat, stomach, etc. by coughing.
Discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth
of other objects
To hand over, give.
intransitiveslang
To confess; to give up information.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To reluctantly or unwillingly give.
Used this way, cough up is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.