Etymology

cough up

Today it means: To expel from the lungs, throat, stomach, etc. by coughing. Full definition →

Middle English coughen up
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromcoughen up
  2. English todaycough up

From Middle English coughen up, equivalent to cough + up. Sense 2.1 was perhaps influenced by coffers of money. (to lose by one's own mistakes): Compare typologically Russian проду́ть (prodútʹ), профу́кать (profúkatʹ).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.