kʌp 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
brassiëre. 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. øcup-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]
