Coughing

To push air from the lungs in a quick, noisy explosion.

"I breathed in a lungful of smoke by mistake, and started to cough."

(sometimes followed by "up") To force something out of the throat or lungs by coughing.

"Sometimes she coughed (up) blood."

To make a noise like a cough.

"The engine coughed and sputtered."

A cough; the act of coughing.