cup

[kuhp]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cup ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small, open container made of china, glass, metal, etc., usually having a handle and used chiefly as a receptable from which to drink tea, soup, etc.

the bowllike part of a goblet or the like.

a cup with its contents.

the quantity contained in a cup.

a unit of capacity, equal to 8 fluid ounces (237 milliliters) or 16 tablespoons; half-pint.

an ornamental bowl, vase, etc., especially of precious metal, offered as a prize for a contest.

any of various beverages, as a mixture of wine and various ingredients: claret cup.

the chalice used in the Eucharist.

the wine of the Eucharist.

something to be partaken of or endured; one's portion, as of joy or suffering.

cups, the drinking of intoxicating liquors.

any cuplike utensil, organ, part, cavity, etc.

either of the two forms that cover and usually support the breasts in a brassiere or other garment, as a bathing suit.

an athletic supporter reinforced with rigid plastic or metal for added protection.

Golf.

the metal receptacle within the hole.
the hole itself.

(initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Crater.

cupping glass.

Metalworking. a cylindrical shell closed at one end, especially one produced in the first stages of a deep-drawing operation.

Mathematics. the cuplike symbol ∪, used to indicate the union of two sets.Compare union(def 10a).

verb (used with object), cupped, cup·ping.

to take or place in, or as in, a cup: He cupped his ear with the palm of his hand.

to form into a cuplike shape: He cupped his hands.

to use a cupping glass on.

Metalworking. to form (tubing, containers, etc.) by punching hot strip or sheet metal and drawing it through a die.Compare deep-draw.

Idioms

in one's cups, intoxicated; drunk.

Origin of cup

before 1000; Middle English, Old English cuppe < Latin cuppa, variant of cūpa tub, cask

Related formscup·like, adjectiveun·der·cup, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cup

mug, drink, bowl, beaker, potion, chalice, grail, vessel, teacup, cannikin, goblet, stein, tumbler, draught, cupful, taster, demitasse

Examples from the Web for cup

Contemporary Examples of cup

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Soak the cranberries in ¾ cup cranberry juice for 15 minutes.
Make Carla Hall’s Roasted Pork Loin With Cranberries
Carla Hall
December 24, 2014
Finally, he says, “Would you like a cup of tea or something?”
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
David Freeman
December 13, 2014
The next day, about the same time, he says, again, “Would you like a cup of tea or something?”
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
David Freeman
December 13, 2014
By two-thirty on the first afternoon at his house, I long for a cup of coffee but feel awkward about asking.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
David Freeman
December 13, 2014
Take the Cup away from Russia now, and we will have the time for countries to bid afresh for 2018.
Putin’s World Cup Picasso ‘Bribe’
Tunku Varadarajan
December 1, 2014

Historical Examples of cup

"Another cup of coffee, Mrs. Davis," he said, passing his cup across the table.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
His name was Cup and he too had inherited his land from a hundred other Cups who had gone before.
Ancient Man
Hendrik Willem van Loon
He raised his cup to his lips, took a sip, and set it down again.
Viviette
William J. Locke
Our destiny offers, not the cup of despair, but the chalice of opportunity.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
Her mother had brought her a piece of seed-cake and a cup of milk with the cream on it.
Life and Death of Harriett Frean
May Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for cup

cup

noun

a small open container, usually having one handle, used for drinking from

the contents of such a containerthat cup was too sweet

Also called: teacup, cupful a unit of capacity used in cooking equal to approximately half a pint, 8 fluid ounces, or about one quarter of a litre

something resembling a cup in shape or function, such as the flower base of some plants of the rose family or a cuplike bodily organ

either of two cup-shaped parts of a brassiere, designed to support the breasts

a cup-shaped trophy awarded as a prize

British

a sporting contest in which a cup is awarded to the winner
(as modifier)a cup competition

a mixed drink with one ingredient as a base, usually served from a bowlclaret cup

golf the hole or metal container in the hole on a green

the chalice or the consecrated wine used in the Eucharist

one's lot in life

in one's cups drunk

one's cup of tea informal one's chosen or preferred thing, task, company, etcshe's not my cup of tea

verb cups, cupping or cupped (tr)

to form (something, such as the hands) into the shape of a cup

to put into or as if into a cup

archaic to draw blood to the surface of the body of (a person) by using a cupping glass

Derived Formscuplike, adjective

Word Origin for cup

Old English cuppe, from Late Latin cuppa cup, alteration of Latin cūpa cask

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cup

Old English cuppe, from Late Latin cuppa "cup" (source of Italian coppa, Spanish copa, Old French coupe "cup"), from Latin cupa "tub, cask, tun, barrel," from PIE *keup- "a hollow" (cf. Sanskrit kupah "hollow, pit, cave," Greek kype "a kind of ship," Old Church Slavonic kupu, Lithuanian kaupas).

The Late Latin word was borrowed throughout Germanic; cf. Old Frisian kopp "cup, head," Middle Low German kopp "cup," Middle Dutch coppe, Dutch kopje "cup, head." German cognate Kopf now means exclusively "head" (cf. French tête, from Latin testa "potsherd"). Meaning "part of a bra that holds a breast" is from 1938. [One's] cup of tea "what interests one" (1932), earlier used of persons (1908), the sense being "what is invigorating."

late 14c., "to draw blood by cupping," from cup (n.). Meaning "to form a cup" is from 1830. Related: Cupped; cupping.

cup in Medicine

cup

[kŭp]

n.

A cup-shaped structure or organ.

cupping glass

A unit of capacity or volume equal to 16 tablespoons or 8 fluid ounces.

v.

To subject a person or body part to the therapeutic procedure of cupping.

Idioms and Phrases with cup

cup

In addition to the idiom beginning with cup

cup of tea, one's

also see:

in one's cups