What does coughing mean?
Coughing is the abrupt, forceful expulsion of air from the lungs through a partially closed glottis, usually triggered by irritation of the airways. It is the present participle and gerund of the verb 'cough', and it also functions informally as a noun for a bout of that action, as in 'a coughing fit'. The word appears constantly in everyday speech and medical writing alike: we describe people coughing during concerts, patients coughing through bronchitis, and engines or computers metaphorically 'coughing' before failing. In informal usage, 'coughing up' means reluctantly surrendering money or information — he was finally coughing up the rent. The literal sense is entirely neutral, while the figurative one adds a whiff of reluctance or humor. Because a cough propels air at remarkable speed and can carry infectious droplets, coughing has taken on heightened social significance, making this a small word with outsized cultural weight.
Present participle of cough: to expel air suddenly and noisily from the lungs in order to clear the airways.
"The smoke left everyone in the room coughing."
Used both literally and figuratively ('the engine was coughing').
An instance or spell of coughing; the action of coughing regarded as a phenomenon.
"A sudden fit of coughing interrupted her speech."
Commonly modified by adjectives describing severity or duration, as in 'constant coughing' or 'dry coughing'.
A single human cough can blast air out at speeds approaching 50 miles per hour — which is exactly why one uncovered cough in a crowded room can spread illness so fast.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of coughing
The verb 'cough' entered written English around the late fifteenth century, and its origin remains genuinely uncertain; most lexicographers consider it imitative in nature, formed from the sound of the act itself rather than derived from another verb. It has plausible relatives in other West Germanic languages, such as Middle Dutch 'kuchen', meaning to cough. The gerund form 'coughing' simply follows the standard English pattern of forming participles and verbal nouns, first appearing as soon as the base verb was established.
Related word forms
How coughing is actually used
Neutral register in its literal sense; the phrasal use 'coughing up' carries a slightly humorous or resentful connotation when applied to parting with money or revealing information. In medical contexts, 'coughing' is classified as acute (under three weeks), subacute, or chronic depending on duration.
Easily confused with coughing
"Couching" is a rare word meaning lowering or expressing something in particular language (or an embroidery technique), whereas "coughing" refers to expelling air from the lungs; the two differ by one letter but are unrelated in meaning.