cough up

verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"cough-up" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cough up” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To expel from the lungs, throat, stomach, etc. by coughing.

Key facts for cough up
PropertyValue
Headwordcough up
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cough up” sits in English frequency

cough up falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cough up is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for cough up in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English coughen up, equivalent to cough + up. Sense 2.1 was perhaps influenced by coffers of money. The correct English form is cough up, spelled C-O-U-G-H- -U-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    To expel from the lungs, throat, stomach, etc. by coughing.
  2. 2
    To reluctantly or unwillingly give.
  3. 3
    To reluctantly or unwillingly give.
  4. 4
    To reluctantly or unwillingly give.
  5. 5
    To lose a competition by one's own mistakes, usually near the end of the contest.
  6. 6
    To spill, to fumble.

Etymology

From Middle English coughen up, equivalent to cough + up. Sense 2.1 was perhaps influenced by coffers of money.

This word in other languages

expectorar(Español)cracher(Français)aushusten(Deutsch)arrotar(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cough up"?
"cough up" is spelled C-O-U-G-H- -U-P.
What does "cough up" mean?
As a verb, "cough up" means: To expel from the lungs, throat, stomach, etc. by coughing.
What is the origin of the word "cough up"?
From Middle English coughen up, equivalent to cough + up. Sense 2.1 was perhaps influenced by coffers of money. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “cough up”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-O-U-G-H- -U-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list