cough drop
12
1.7
- noun
- /kɔf drɑp/
- US
:
pastilla para la tos
- If your throat is sore, you might find relief with a cough drop.
- buy cough drops
- suck a cough drop
- cherry-flavored cough drops
Examples
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I have mentholated cough drops.
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All he had was cough drops to eat at the very end.
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I just had a cough drop, all right?
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- You want a cough drop?
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Would you like another cough drop?
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Would anybody like a cough drop?
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Black tea with honey and a steady diet of cough drops between events helped little.
Blog text (27) -
Ricola cough drops are excellent.
Blog text (12) -
I had to keep Lifesavers or some other hard candy or cough drop with me constantly to quiet the tickle in my throat.
Blog text (17) -
I used to suffer from sinus issues on a plane, so a few years ago I started sucking on mentholated cough drops during the flight.
Blog text (16)
Synonyms
14
5.4
A small sweet tablet with medicine that dissolves slowly in the mouth to soothe a sore throat
1
7.6
A sweet with medicine that you let melt in your mouth to soothe a sore throat or ease a cough
A small sweet tablet that dissolves in the mouth to soothe sore throats and coughs
A small medicated lozenge that dissolves in the mouth to soothe the throat
How Soothing
- US
12
1.7
- US
863
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is compositionally derived: 'cough' identifies the symptom being treated and 'drop' denotes a small item, so together they point to a small thing used for cough relief. A B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer it is a small medicated/sweet item for soothing a sore throat or suppressing coughing.
Etymology
Cough drop comes from the tiny sweet medicines people used to suck to ease a cough. The word drop refers to the small candy-like shape you let melt in your mouth, so the phrase means 'a small sweet that soothes the throat and helps stop coughing'.