I. ˈkəp noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English cuppe, from Old English; akin to Old Frisian kopp head, cup, Middle Low German kopp drinking vessel, Middle Dutch coppe, Old High German kopf; all from a prehistoric West Germanic word borrowed from Late Latin cuppa cup, alteration of or akin to Latin cupa vat, tub — more at hive
1. : a usually open bowl-shaped drinking vessel often having a handle and a stem and base and sometimes a lid
finely made wine cups
: chalice ; specifically : a handled vessel of china or glass that is set on a saucer and used for hot liquids (as coffee, tea, or soup)
2.
a. : the containing part of a drinking vessel that has a stem and a foot
b. : a drinking vessel and its contents : the beverage or food contained in a cup
a second cup of coffee
c. : the consecrated wine of the Communion
3. : something (as an experience or sensation) that is to be enjoyed or endured : something that falls to one's lot : portion
his cup of bitterness is full
4. cups plural : prolonged or convivial drinking
thence from cups to civil broils — John Milton
5. sometimes capitalized : an ornamental cup offered as a prize especially when symbolic of a championship
the cup race for large yachts
often : a prize other than or in addition to money
6. : something felt to resemble a cup especially in shape or use: as
a. : a socket or recess in which something turns (as the hipbone or the recess in which a capstan spindle turns)
b. : a metal or earthenware receptacle that is shaped like a flowerpot and that is attached to a tree in turpentine orcharding to collect the resin
c.
(1) : an athletic supporter reinforced with metal for providing extra protection to the wearer in certain strenuous sports (as boxing, hockey, football)
(2) : either of the two parts of a brassiere that are shaped like and fit over the breasts
d. medicine : a small bell-shaped glass formerly used in cupping
e. : a cap of metal shaped like the femoral head and used in plastic reconstruction of the hip joint
f. : the metal case inside a hole in golf ; also : the hole itself
g. : an annular trough filled with water at the base of each section of a telescopic gas holder into which fits the grip of the section next outside
7.
a. : a cup-shaped organ or part of a plant (as an apothecium or peridium, a volva, or in seed plants a cupule, a calyx, or corolla)
b. : a cup-shaped structure ; especially : a cup-shaped external skeleton (as the theca of a coral or the calyx of a crinoid)
8. : a usually iced beverage resembling punch in its ingredients but served from a pitcher rather than a bowl
claret cup
cider cup
champagne cup
9. : a curve across the grain or width of a piece of lumber
10. : cupful
11. : a food served in a cup-shaped usually footed vessel
fruit cup
•
- in one's cups
II. verb
( cupped ; cupped ; cupping ; cups )
transitive verb
1.
[Middle English cuppen, from cuppe, n.]
medicine : to subject to cupping
2. : to make or curve into a hollow or cup shape
cupping his hand to his ear
3. : to receive, take, or place in or as if in a cup
cup water from a stream
cupping his chin in his hand
a town cupped by surrounding hills
4. : to provide a cup for catching latex or sap from the trunk of (a tree) in rubber and turpentine culture
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to grow or become cup-shaped
b. of a board : to warp crosswise
2. : to undergo or perform cupping
3. : to make a depression in the ground with the club when hitting a golf ball
III. ˈku̇p, ˈkəp
variant of coop III
IV. noun
: the symbol ∪ indicating the union of two sets — compare cap herein