cupboard
Americannoun
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a closet with shelves for dishes, cups, etc.
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Chiefly British. any small closet or cabinet, as for clothes, food, or the like.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cupboard
First recorded in 1275–1325, cupboard is from the Middle English word cuppebord. See cup, board
Explanation
A cupboard is a piece of furniture that's used for storing things. Your kitchen cupboard might actually be full of cups, while the cupboard in your bedroom might hold sweaters and socks. Some cupboards are built into a wall, like a closet, while others are freestanding cabinets. A cupboard usually has doors that open and shelves inside, for storage. The very earliest cupboards, in the 14th century, were exactly what the word describes: a board or table used for putting cups or dishes on. Over the following two hundred years, cupboard came to mean an enclosed cabinet for the same purpose.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The small kitchen retains its midcentury charm, but open shelving above the counter provides an airier, more contemporary cupboard to show off Miranda-Martin’s dish and glassware collection.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026
Both watches in black boxes with the faces wrapped in plastic were recovered from a cupboard in the SNP headquarters.
From BBC • Jun. 23, 2026
I did not see myself as an avid supplement taker, but then I took a good look in my cupboard.
From BBC • Jun. 20, 2026
Every time I take one out of the cupboard in the morning, I’m taken back to that trip.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
I would take fifteen drops from the base formula—which was kept in Mother’s sewing cupboard, where it would not be used or polluted—and add them to a small bottle of distilled water.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
