cup

/kʌp/
Học thuật
Thân thiện
cup

The golfer carefully places the ball into the cup on the green.

Definition
  1. Noun:

    • A small open container, typically used for drinking: A cup is a small bowl-shaped container, usually with a handle, designed to hold liquids like tea, coffee, or water.
    • A unit of measurement in cooking: A cup is a standardized unit of volume, especially in recipes, equal to 8 fluid ounces or 240 milliliters in the US.
    • A trophy in the shape of a cup: A decorative vessel, often made of metal, awarded as a prize in a competition or sporting event.
    • A cup-shaped object or part: Any hollow, rounded object resembling the shape of a drinking cup, such as the socket in a golf green or parts of plants and bras.
  2. Verb:

    • To form something into a cup-like shape: To curve one's hands or another object into the shape of a cup.
    • To place one's hands in a curved position: To hold something with hands shaped like a cup.
Examples of Usage
  • Noun:

    • She drank a cup of tea every morning.
    • Add one cup of flour to the mixture.
    • The team celebrated after winning the championship cup.
    • The ball dropped neatly into the cup on the 18th green.
  • Verb:

    • He cupped his hands to drink water from the stream.
    • She cupped her face in her hands, feeling tired.
Advanced Usage
  • "One's cup of tea" (idiom): Something one likes or is interested in.

    • Classical music isn't really my cup of tea; I prefer jazz.
  • "In one's cups" (idiom, archaic): To be drunk or intoxicated.

    • He was prone to telling stories when he was in his cups.
  • "The cup that cheers but not inebriates" (literary): A phrase for tea.

    • Afternoon is the time for the cup that cheers.
Variants and Related Words
  • Cupful (n): The amount that a cup can hold.

    • She added a cupful of sugar.
  • Cupcake (n): A small cake baked in a cup-shaped container.

  • Teacup (n): A cup from which tea is drunk.
Synonyms
  • Mug: A large cup, typically cylindrical with a handle.
  • Goblet: A drinking glass with a foot and stem.
  • Trophy: A prize for winning a contest.
  • Measure: A standard unit of quantity.
Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Cup" is not commonly used to form phrasal verbs. Its verbal use is typically transitive, as shown in the examples.)

Related Idioms
  • "There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip": A proverb meaning that something can go wrong even when success seems certain.

    • We think we've won the contract, but there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.
  • "To drain the cup of bitterness": To experience great suffering or hardship.

    • In his memoirs, he wrote about draining the cup of bitterness during the war.
cup

The golfer carefully places the ball into the cup on the green.

Noun
  1. a large metal vessel with two handles that is awarded as a trophy to the winner of a competition
    • the school kept the cups is a special glass case
  2. the hole (or metal container in the hole) on a golf green
    • he swore as the ball rimmed the cup and rolled away
    • put the flag back in the cup
  3. a punch served in a pitcher instead of a punch bowl
  4. cup-shaped plant organ
  5. a United States liquid unit equal to 8 fluid ounces
  6. any cup-shaped concavity
    • bees filled the waxen cups with honey
    • he wore a jock strap with a metal cup
    • the cup of her bra
  7. the quantity a cup will hold
    • he drank a cup of coffee
    • he borrowed a cup of sugar
  8. a small open container usually used for drinking; usually has a handle
    • he put the cup back in the saucer
    • the handle of the cup was missing
Verb
  1. treat by applying evacuated cups to the patient's skin
  2. put into a cup
    • cup the milk
  3. form into the shape of a cup
    • She cupped her hands