n. & v.
n. 1 a small bowl-shaped container, usu. with a handle for drinking from. 2 a its contents (a cup of tea). b = CUPFUL. 3 a cup-shaped thing, esp. the calyx of a flower or the socket of a bone. 4 flavoured wine, cider, etc., usu. chilled. 5 an ornamental cup-shaped trophy as a prize for victory or prowess, esp. in a sports contest. 6 one's fate or fortune (a bitter cup). 7 either of the two cup-shaped parts of a brassière. 8 the chalice used or the wine taken at the Eucharist. 9 Golf the hole on a putting-green or the metal container in it.
v.tr. (cupped, cupping) 1 form (esp. one's hands) into the shape of a cup. 2 take or hold as in a cup. 3 hist. bleed (a person) by using a glass in which a partial vacuum is formed by heating. cup-cake a small cake baked in a cup-shaped foil or paper container and often iced. Cup Final a final match in a competition for a cup. cup lichen a lichen, Cladonia pyxidata, with cup-shaped processes arising from the thallus. one's cup of tea colloq. what interests or suits one. cup-tie a match in a competition for a cup. in one's cups while drunk; drunk.
[ OE cuppe f. med.L cuppa cup, prob. differentiated from L cupa tub ]