= hacking, adj. 4

Confined in the bowels, costive. †Also of a cough: Tight, dry (obsolete).

Of breath, breathing: Coming in hurried gasps, impeded. Of a cough: Abrupt, checked; recurring abruptly at frequent intervals, dry, fast. Of a…

In early use colloquial. Of a cough: short, dry, and persistent; hacking. Cf. hack, v.1 11.

Of a cough: Producing expectoration with little difficulty; not ‘fast’ or ‘tight’.

Characterized by the production of phlegm or other matter from the throat or lungs; (also) coughing; choking. Cf. retch, v.2 1.

figurative. = hacking, adj. 4. Obsolete. rare.

figurative with many varieties of sense. In medical use, describing a cough.

Medicine. Of a cough: characterized by the production of sputum.