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Glite Dictionary
💸 To pay unwillingly 🤧 To spit out
to cough up

to cough up

23 6.5
To pay money unwillingly after being pressured
  • phrasal verb
  • /kɔf ʌp/
  • Informal
translation icon : soltar
  • It's time to cough up the money you promised for the charity event.
  • cough up money
  • cough up cash
  • cough up millions

Yeah, but there was a few people that didn't cough up anything.

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Examples

  • The Board of Supes might even cough up extra funding.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Would I have been happy to cough up $300 to avoid wasting that time?

    Blog text (6)

  • All right, everybody cough up some green for the little lady.

    Reservoir Dogs (1992)

  • So, cough up the bucks, and then we'll talk.

    Joy of Sex (1984)

  • Cough up the cash, junior.

    The Corruptor (1999)

  • I'll cough up the money, Ellen.

    Pet Sematary (1989)

  • And so now they have to cough up their own rent plus the one or two months of vacancy.

  • I don't wanna cough up two hundred bucks just to get to Chicago.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • They will have to start coughing up money and I mean now.

    Blood Beach (1980)

  • Moreover, Americans are on track to cough up a record $490 billion for gasoline in 2011.

    Blog text (8)

Synonyms

to pick up
vsto cough up
77 2.8

To pay for something, often for someone else

involves unwilling payment under pressure rather than voluntary covering
to pay up
vsto cough up
  • Informal
35 3.6

Give someone the money you owe them, often after they ask you

highlights unwilling or pressured payment rather than simply settling debt
to shell out
vsto cough up
  • Informal
30 7.1

Pay a large amount of money even when you do not want to

is used for unwilling payment regardless of the amount
to pony up
vsto cough up
  • Informal
21 8.2

Pay money, often reluctantly, when others expect it

focuses more on unwilling payment after pressure than on expectation
to fork over
vsto cough up
  • Informal
15 6.1

To give money to someone after they ask or force you

stresses unwilling payment due to pressure rather than mere request
to ante up
vsto cough up
  • Informal
8 7.8

Pay money you owe as your part of a shared bill

is mainly about giving money unwillingly after pressure, not sharing costs
to fork out
vsto cough up
  • Informal
3 7.5

To pay money when you do not want to

is similar but highlights payment because of external pressure
to fork up
vsto cough up
  • Informal
1 8.1

To pay money unwillingly

focuses on giving money unwillingly, especially after being pressured
to spit up
vsto cough up
  • Informal
7.7

To give something, often money, because others make you do it

emphasizes payment after pressure rather than voluntary contribution

Antonyms

to refuse
716 1.7

To say no to a request or offer

to withhold
210 5.1

Refuse to give something someone wants or needs

How Willing

to give
∞ 1.0
to hand over
296 2.8
to cough up
  • Informal
23 6.5
to hold out
139 3.7
to refuse
716 1.7

Surface Forms

cough up infinitive
coughed up past
coughed up past participle
coughing up present participle
coughs up third person singular

Morphology

cough + up

The literal meanings ('cough' = expel air; 'up' = upward/completion) offer a partial metaphorical clue of expelling or producing something, which could extend to handing something over. However, mapping that metaphor specifically to 'paying or giving money reluctantly' is not directly predictable without exposure, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would only get a vague hint rather than the exact meaning.

Etymology

Cough up used for paying comes from a strong picture: you force something out of your mouth, you cough it up, and people used that image when someone was forced to pay. That's why it means 'to give or pay something unwillingly or after being pressured'.