A dry cough is the trumpeter of death.

The proverb portrays a dry cough as an ominous announcement, as though the sound of coughing were a trumpet heralding death.

It conveys fear about a symptom and the possibility of grave illness. It is a figurative warning, not a reliable prediction about any person's health.

Use it to express alarm at a dry cough or to describe a fearful response to illness. Its stark imagery suits a bleak warning rather than ordinary medical advice.