churchyard cough

noun

A severe cough. (condition that causes one to cough, tendency to cough)

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Meanings

nounchurchyard cough (plural churchyard coughs)

plural churchyard coughs

  1. informalmedicineA severe cough. (condition that causes one to cough, tendency to cough)

    He was roused from his brief rest by a violent fit of coughing, which seemed to shake the whole system. It was one which in England is so simply, yet so emphatically, denominated a churchyard cough. It was hollow, like the echo of the grave.

    1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 186

Origin

Suggesting that the afflicted person will soon pass away and be buried.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish kova yskä
  • kova yskäa severe cough
German Friedhofsjodler
  • Friedhofsjodlera severe cough
Irish casacht thollta
  • casacht tholltaa severe cough
Polish kaszel suchy
  • kaszel suchya severe cough
Cite this entry
APA

churchyard cough. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/churchyard%20cough

MLA

“churchyard cough.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/churchyard%20cough. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “churchyard cough,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/churchyard%20cough.

Source: churchyard cough on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.