French word

tousser

Pronunciation

IPA/tuse/

Meaning

  • verbcough

Example

Je tousse depuis ce matin.

I have been coughing since this morning.

Illustration for tousser (cough)

More examples

Elle a dû arrêter de parler parce qu'elle a commencé à tousser.

She had to stop talking because she started coughing.

Core concept

A sudden burst of air from the throat, marked by a rough cough sound.

Common phrases

  • commencer à tousser

    start coughing

  • tousser sans arrêt

    cough nonstop

Similar words

éternuer: To sneeze by forcefully expelling air through the nose.
se racler la gorge: To make a brief scraping sound in the throat to clear an irritation.
cracher: To spit out saliva or unwanted material forcefully.
s'étouffer: To choke and have difficulty breathing while coughing.

Definition in French

Expulser brusquement de l'air par la gorge en produisant un son caractéristique; verbe intransitif indiquant l'action de faire une toux.

Word origin

Tousser comes from Latin tussire, related to tussis, meaning cough, and developed in French with the regular -er verb ending.

Usage tips

  • The spelling tousser has ss between vowels, so the middle consonant is pronounced /s/, not /z/.

Related words

  • toussotercough lightlyverb
  • toussotementlight coughingnoun

Word lists with this word