cough up vs spit out

cough up and spit out both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
cough up	No	No	Yes	No
spit out	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, cough up and spit out are synonyms defined as:

cough up and spit out: discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth

Other synonyms of cough up include cough out, expectorate, spit up.

As verbs, spit out is a hyponym of cough up; that is, spit out is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than cough up:

Other hyponyms of cough up include cough, ptyalise, ptyalize, spew, spit, spue, splutter, sputter.

cough up (verb)	spit out (verb)
discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth	spit up in an explosive manner
give reluctantly	discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth
	utter with anger or contempt