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cough up

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cough something up

 

1. to get something out of the body by coughing. She coughed some matter up and took some more medicine. She coughed up phlegm all night.

2. Euph. to vomit something. The dog coughed the rabbit up. The dog coughed up the food it had eaten.

3. Sl. to produce or present something, such as an amount of money. You will cough the money up, won't you? You had better cough up what you owe me, if you know what's good for you.

See also: cough, up

cough up something

also cough something up

1. to pay money unwillingly I had to cough up $35 for administration fees. Martinez's lawyers knew the banks had the money, and pushed them to cough it up. Related vocabulary: fork over something

2. to allow an opponent to take the lead in a competition Sele got a 3-0 lead in the second inning but then coughed it up in the third.

See also: cough, up

cough up

1. Hand over or relinquish, especially money; pay up. For example, It's time the delinquent members coughed up their dues. [Slang; late 1800s]

2. Confess or divulge, as in Pretty soon she'd cough up the whole story about last night. This idiom transfers the act of vomiting to telling the entire truth. [Slang; late 1800s]

See also: cough, up

cough up

v.

1. To force something from the throat or lungs and out of the mouth by coughing: After years of smoking, he started coughing up blood. The medicine loosened the phlegm so she could cough it up.

2. Slang To pay or hand over something, as money, often reluctantly: Cough up the money or you're going to jail. I know you're short on the rent money, but you'll have to cough it up.

3. Slang To confess or disclose something: When the police arrived, we coughed up the details of the incident. When the lawyers threatened me for not disclosing the tax returns, I coughed them up.

See also: cough, up