Standard Lemma guide

whoost

noun · verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A cough.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To cough.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dialectal, intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English host, from Old English hwōsta (“a cough”), from Proto-Germanic *hwōstô (“a cough”). Cognate with German Husten (“a cough”), Alemannic German Wüeste (“a cough”), Danish hoste (“a cough”), Icelandic hósti (“a cough”).

From Middle English hostyn, from Old English hwōstan (“to cough”), from Proto-Germanic *hwōstōną, *hwōstāną (“to cough”), from Proto-Indo-European *kwās- (“to cough”). Cognate with Scots whust (“to cough”), Saterland Frisian hoostje (“to cough”), West Frisian hoastje (“to cough”), Dutch hoesten (“to cough”), German Low German hoosten (“to cough”), Danish hoste (“to cough”), Swedish hosta (“to cough”), Icelandic hósta (“to cough”). Non-Germanic cognates include Irish casacht (“cough”) and Welsh pas (“cough”).