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 Welsh actor and comedian was inspired by his family pet to write The Cat in The Cupboard - a story told entirely in rhyme, which follows Crumble the cat on his daring garden adventures.
From BBC • Jan. 22, 2026
And then, in the last six weeks of my degree course, I made an adaptation of an Ian McEwan short story, “Conversation With a Cupboard Man.”
From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2023
At a food bank called Jackson Cupboard, Hermanowski hands out meals from a commercial garage after being forced from a previous site by a malfunctioning sprinkler.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 24, 2022
It’s from Hogwarts, the school for wizards, and it is addressed to a certain “Mr H. Potter, The Cupboard under the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey”.
From Reuters • Nov. 15, 2021
Cupboard of a kitchen straight ahead—empty—box of a living room to the left.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
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.
