Cough

Cough

A cough ( pronunciation Latin: tussis), is a sudden and often repetitively occurring reflex which helps to clear the large breathing passages from secretions, irritants, foreign particles and microbes. The cough reflex consists of three phases: an inhalation, a forced exhalation against a closed glottis, and a violent release of air from the lungs following opening of the glottis, usually accompanied by a distinctive sound. Coughing can happen voluntarily as well as involuntarily.

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Famous quotes containing the word cough:

    Despite my asbestos gloves,
    the cough is filling me with black,
    and a red powder seeps through my veins....
    Anne Sexton (1928–1974)

    All, men my madmen, the unwholesome wind
    With whistler’s cough contages, time on track
    Shapes in a cinder death; love for his trick,
    Happy Cadaver’s hunger as you take
    The kissproof world.
    Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)

    He sits, strong and blunt as a Celtic cross,
    Clearly used to silence and an armchair:
    Tonight the wife and children will be quiet
    At slammed door and smoker’s cough in the hall.
    Seamus Heaney (b. 1939)