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Synonyms

cupful

American  
[kuhp-fool] / ˈkʌp fʊl /

noun

  • cupfuls
    plural
  1. the amount a cup can hold.

  2. Cooking. a volumetric measure equal to 8 fluid ounces (237 milliliters); half pint.


Spelling

See -ful.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of cupful

First recorded in 1350–1400, cupful is from the Middle English word cuppefulle. See cup, -ful

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.

See Examples For:

On a recent afternoon, Gérald poured less than a cupful of cooking oil into an old water bottle and handed it to a young boy.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2024

"A simple-minded but perfect way to master the movement is to practice outdoors with half a cupful of dried beans."

From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2022

When the casing shrinks in the heat of the oven, it pulls up the sides of each slice, forming a little meat cupful of spicy oil.

From New York Times ● Feb. 19, 2019

Players jumped and threw hands skyward, Curry tossing a cupful of water onto a smiling Durant amid it all. 

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2017

Buzz went and got another cupful of water from the seep.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

We sloshed cupfuls from a field across from the school, brought it back to our little tables and carefully used a dropper to transfer the pond water to a microscope slide.

From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2020

Because, he explains, "with all our knowledge of chemistry we could not produce a meal from a few cupfuls of chalk and salt."

From Scientific American ● Sep. 16, 2019

The key is to think of herbs — particularly the tender ones — not as accents used in mere tablespoons but rather as star players tossed in by fistfuls and cupfuls.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 5, 2019

People waited patiently for nearly two hours for a shot at the chili bowls and the fried chicken sandwiches, the flat bean-filled tacos called "foldies" and the cupfuls of stewed collard greens.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2016

We leapt after her and watched as she dipped cupfuls of filthy water into the thermos.

From "Tasting the Sky" by Ibtisam Barakat

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