coughing up
5
4.3
- noun
:
expulsión
- We hear someone clearing congested lungs, coughing up phlegm; a slight crash.
- coughing up blood
- coughing up mucus
- coughing up sputum
Examples
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After the cold, I was coughing up phlegm every morning.
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As he watched, Bein struggled for breath, breathing in and coughing up great gouts of water.
Fiction book (2000) -
My wife was singing at the piano when she first coughed up blood.
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Yeah, who doesn't cough up a little blood on the floor when they are feeling sick?
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I was coughing up all sorts of stuff after being intubated and was miserable for two days.
Blog text (27) -
Poor thing was coughing up huge pools of mucus, which were wiped up by its owner.
Blog text (12) -
He was still coughing up food from the previous night's dinner.
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The doctor warned me that coughing up material could indicate a serious condition.
How Much
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'expelling phlegm or other material by coughing' is directly derivable from 'cough' (to expel air through the throat) combined with 'up', which here functions as a particle indicating outward/completive motion. This composition follows a common verb + particle pattern (e.g. 'spit up', 'bring up') that is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely understand it.
Etymology
Coughing up comes from the clear image of coughing to push something up and out of your throat, like food or thick spit. So it means 'the act of pushing food, phlegm, or other material out of the throat or lungs by coughing'.