cough up
(idiomatic) To lose a competition by one's own mistakes, usually near the end of the contest.
Seen in the wild
in 3 days you will begin to cough up swarovski crystals
and if they dont want to cough up the few hundred, they can use the lightening ones with a string for $15.
If the American people are forced to cough up $1 billion for a playground for rich assholes, then it's the people's ballroom and we should be able to run the rich assholes out of it.
Definitions
(idiomatic) To lose a competition by one's own mistakes, usually near the end of the contest.
That team had the game won, but they coughed it up in the end.
“in 3 days you will begin to cough up swarovski crystals”
— Bluesky· May 2026“and if they dont want to cough up the few hundred, they can use the lightening ones with a string for $15.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“If the American people are forced to cough up $1 billion for a playground for rich assholes, then it's the people's ballroom and we should be able to run the rich assholes out of it.”
— Bluesky· May 2026
Comments
(transitive) To expel from the lungs, throat, stomach, etc. by coughing.
He was coughing up blood.
Comments
(idiomatic, transitive, informal) To reluctantly or unwillingly give.
He was coughing up a lung.
Comments
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