Noun

(en noun)

A cough; the act of coughing.

* 1855 , Anna Mary Howitt, A school of life (page 63)

The good signor's little address was received in a variety of ways: there were titterings and coughings , and there were also a few instances of noble and generous response to poor Leonard's action

* , chapter=3

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.}}