noises made by the body

II. cough² BrE AmE noun [countable]
1. a medical condition that makes you cough a lot:
He's got a bad cough.
Symptoms include a sore throat and a nasty cough.
cough medicine
2. [countable] the action or sound made when you cough:
Stuart gave an embarrassed cough.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ have (got) a cough I’ve had a cough for weeks now.
▪ get/catch a cough A lot of people get coughs at this time of year.
■ adjectives
▪ a bad cough Jason’s at home with a bad cough.
▪ a nasty/violent cough (=a very bad cough)
▪ a smoker's cough (=one caused by smoking)
▪ a dry cough (=one that does not produce any liquid)
▪ a loose cough (=one that produces liquid)
▪ a chesty cough British English (=one that affects your chest)
▪ a hacking cough (=a bad cough with an unpleasant sound)
▪ a slight cough (=one that is not very serious) He has a slight cough but I don’t think he’s really ill.
▪ a tickly cough (=one that keeps irritating your throat)
▪ a persistent cough (=one that is difficult to cure)
■ cough + NOUN
▪ cough medicine/cough mixture/cough syrup (=liquid containing medicine for a cough) You should take some cough medicine.
▪ a cough drop (also a cough sweet British English) (=a sweet you suck to make a cough less irritating) He was sucking on a cough sweet.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

noun
1. an act or a sound of coughing

• She gave a little cough to attract my attention.

2. an illness or infection that makes you cough often
• to have a dry/persistent/hacking cough
• My cold's better, but I can't seem to shake off this cough.
see also whooping cough
Word Origin:
Middle English: of imitative origin; related to Dutch kuchen ‘to cough’ and German keuchen ‘to pant’.
Example Bank:
• He had a smoker's cough and nicotine-yellowed fingers.
• She struggled to stifle a cough.

• The butler gave a little cough to announce his presence.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition

cough / kɒf / / kɑːf / noun [ C ]

B1 the act of coughing, or the sound this makes:

a dry cough (= one that does not produce mucus)

a hacking (= very bad and loud) cough

an illness that makes you cough a lot:

a smoker's cough

Emily has a very bad/nasty cough.

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

cough

/kɒf, AM kɔ:f/
(coughs, coughing, coughed)

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.

1.
When you cough, you force air out of your throat with a sudden, harsh noise. You often cough when you are ill, or when you are nervous or want to attract someone’s attention.
Graham began to cough violently...
He coughed. ‘Excuse me, Mrs Allsworthy, could I have a word?’
VERB: V, V
•
Cough is also a noun.
They were interrupted by an apologetic cough.
N-COUNT
• cough‧ing
He was then overcome by a terrible fit of coughing.
N-UNCOUNT

2.
A cough is an illness in which you cough often and your chest or throat hurts.
...if you have a persistent cough for over a month.
N-COUNT

3.
If you cough blood or mucus, it comes up out of your throat or mouth when you cough.
I started coughing blood so they transferred me to a hospital.
VERB: V n
•
Cough up means the same as cough.
On the chilly seas, Keats became feverish, continually coughing up blood.
PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

cough

²cough noun, pl coughs [count]
1 : a physical condition or illness that causes someone to cough
• He has a cough and a cold.
• They both have bad coughs.
• He has a terrible smoker's cough. [=a cough caused by smoking]
- see also whooping cough
2 : an act of coughing or the sound made when someone coughs
• I heard a cough from the back of the church.
• He gave a cough [=he coughed] to get my attention.
• dry/hacking coughs