Cough
[kɒf] or [kɔf]
Definition
(noun.) a sudden noisy expulsion of air from the lungs that clears the air passages; a common symptom of upper respiratory infection or bronchitis or pneumonia or tuberculosis.
(verb.) exhale abruptly, as when one has a chest cold or congestion; 'The smoker coughs all day'.
Checker: Wendy--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) To expel air, or obstructing or irritating matter, from the lungs or air passages, in a noisy and violent manner.
(v. t.) To expel from the lungs or air passages by coughing; -- followed by up; as, to cough up phlegm.
(v. t.) To bring to a specified state by coughing; as, he coughed himself hoarse.
(v. i.) 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.
(v. i.) The more or less frequent repetition of coughing, constituting a symptom of disease.
Checked by Curtis
Definition
n. an effort of the lungs to throw off injurious matter accompanied by a harsh sound proceeding from the throat.—v.i. to make this effort.—v.t. to expel from the throat or lungs by a cough.—ns. Cough′-drop -loz′enge a sweetmeat taken to cure coughing; Cough′er; Cough′ing —Cough down to drown a speaker's voice by coughing so that he must stop.
Typist: Nola
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream that you are aggravated by a constant cough indicates a state of low health; but one from which you will recuperate if care is observed in your habits. To dream of hearing others cough, indicates unpleasant surroundings from which you will ultimately emerge.
Typed by Edmund
Examples
- Mr. Snagsby, having said this in a very plaintive manner, throws in a cough of general application to fill up all the blanks. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- I immediately inquired of her why she left her home with such a dreadful cough. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- It must be English for some one, sir, I think, Mr. Snagsby submits with his deferential cough. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- As soon as he had withdrawn the cloth and placed the dessert upon the table, he began to cough and place himself in an attitude of preparation. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- It is only a nervous cough. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- She was stopped by a cough. Jane Austen. Emma.
- With this beneficent wish, Mr. Snagsby coughs a cough of dismal resignation and submits himself to hear what the visitor has to communicate. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- The poor creature interrupted me with loud sobs, which produced such a dreadful fit of coughing, I thought that she would have expired on the spot. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- She was coughing most dreadfully, and her breath was still more oppressed than my own. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- However, as soon as he could be heard through Mr. Smallweed's coughing and his vicious ejaculations of Oh, my bones! Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- He seemed about to dispute this designation of himself when he was seized with a violent fit of coughing. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- The broker was taken with such a fit of coughing he burst a blood-vessel, and the man who let the bromine out got away and never came back. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- This goes down your throat, and portions of it lodge by the way, and produce a tickling aggravation that keeps you barking and coughing for an hour. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- She could hear a distant coughing of a sheep. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The waiter coughed, as if he modestly invited me to get over that. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- Dodson coughed and looked at Fogg, who said 'Perfectly,' also. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- There was no sound within: so she coughed and listened again. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- He coughed and spat and listened to the heavy machine gun hammer again below the bend. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Perker coughed violently, and asked Mr. Pickwick whether he wouldn't like to look at the morning paper. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Here the speaker, putting her hand before her mouth, coughed again, and looked affectionately at the elder Mr. Weller. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- His voice deserted him; he coughed and spluttered. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Mr. Snagsby turns up the gas and coughs behind his hand, modestly anticipating profit. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- After rendering this general tribute to the port, Mr. Snagsby in his modesty coughs an apology behind his hand for drinking anything so precious. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- With this beneficent wish, Mr. Snagsby coughs a cough of dismal resignation and submits himself to hear what the visitor has to communicate. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- You can be alarmed enough, if Eva coughs, or has the least thing the matter with her; but you never think of me. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Kitty has no discretion in her coughs, said her father; she times them ill. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- Mr. Snagsby says nothing to this effect, says nothing at all indeed, but coughs his forlornest cough, expressive of no thoroughfare in any direction. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Mr. Snagsby appears to have set out in this reply with some desperate design of repeating the name, but on reflection coughs again to excuse himself. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
Checked by Cindy