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Definition of cough noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

cough

noun
 
/kɒf/
 
/kɔːf/
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  1. an act or a sound of coughing (= forcing out air suddenly and noisily through your throat, for example when you have a cold)
    • She gave a little cough to attract my attention.
    Extra Examples
    • She struggled to stifle a cough.
    • The butler gave a little cough to announce his presence.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • little
    • polite
    • slight
    • …
    verb + cough
    • give
    • have
    • suffer from
    • …
    cough + noun
    • drop
    • medicine
    • mixture
    • …
    See full entry
  2. an illness or infection that makes you cough often
    • to have a dry/persistent cough
    • My cold's better, but I can't seem to shake off this cough.
    • He had a smoker's cough and nicotine-yellowed fingers.
    see also hacking cough, whooping coughTopics Health problemsb1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • little
    • polite
    • slight
    • …
    verb + cough
    • give
    • have
    • suffer from
    • …
    cough + noun
    • drop
    • medicine
    • mixture
    • …
    See full entry
    3. Word OriginMiddle English: of imitative origin; related to Dutch kuchen ‘to cough’ and German keuchen ‘to pant’.
See cough in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee cough in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: cough

Nearby words

alloy
noun
 
 
From the Topic
Physics and chemistry
C2
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