Chinese word

咳嗽

Pronunciation

Pinyinké sòu

Meaning

  • verbcough

Example

我一喝冷水就会咳嗽。wǒ yì hē léng shuǐ jiù huì ké sòu

I cough whenever I drink cold water.

Illustration for 咳嗽 (cough)

More examples

他最近因为过敏总是在夜里咳嗽，影响睡眠。tā zuì jìn yīn wèi guò mǐn zǒng shì zài yè lǐ ké sòu yíng xiǎng shuì mián

Lately, he always coughs at night because of allergies, which affects his sleep.

Core concept

A sudden burst of air from the throat or chest that clears an irritant from the airway.

Common phrases

  • 反复咳嗽fǎn fù ké sòu

    cough again and again

  • 咳嗽不止ké sòu bù zhǐ

    cough nonstop

  • 夜间咳嗽yè jiān ké sòu

    cough at night

Similar words

咳ké: Give a short, loud cough that quickly pushes out air.
呛qiāng: Cough suddenly after food or drink goes into the throat or airway.
打喷嚏dǎ pēn tì: Force air out through the nose and mouth when the nose is irritated.

Definition in Chinese

反复且突发性地用喉或胸将空气从口鼻中迅速排出，常见于感冒、过敏等情况，是一种防御性反应。fǎn fù qiě tū fā xìng dì yòng hóu huò xiōng jiāng kōng qì cóng kǒu bí zhōng xùn sù pái chū cháng jiàn yú gǎn mào guò mǐn děng qíng kuàng shì yì zhǒng fáng yù xìng fǎn yìng

Word origin

咳嗽 (késòu, "cough") combines 咳 (ké, "cough") and 嗽 (sòu, "cough"), two traditional terms for the same air-expelling action.

Usage tips

  • Frequency and degree words commonly appear with this verb, helping everyday speech show how often or how strongly the symptom occurs.

Other meanings

  • coughingnoun

Related words

  • 咳嗽声ké sòu shēngsound of coughingnoun
  • 咳嗽症状ké sòu zhèng zhuàngcough symptomnoun

Word lists with this word