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to cup

to cup

15 3.7
Shape your hands into a hollow to hold something
  • verb
  • /kʌp/
translation icon : hacer un cuenco con las manos
  • To catch the rain, you can cup your hands to collect as much as possible.
  • cup your hands

So you've got cup, A cup can mean a cup, or it can mean cup your hands or cup your ears or World Cup.

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Examples

  • "Eh?" the man called back, cupping one hand up to his ear.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Cup your hand, cover your nose and mouth like this.

  • Turn off these lights, cup your hands around your eyes and look real close...

  • Just cup your hands like this, reach into the water, and...

  • Cup your hands closer to your chest!

  • If you cup your hands while you're swimming, you swim a whole lot faster, son.

  • On board Pinzon's ship, an officer cups his hands to his mouth.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The soldier gags and cups his hands over his nose and mouth.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Marshall leaned into the window, cupping his hands to see out.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Shepherd kneels down, cups her daughter's face in his hands, and gently kisses her forehead.

    Fiction book (1995)

Idioms

cup of tea
  • Informal
35 3.3

Something you like or are good at

To ask or hope, often in prayer, not to have a hard time

Phrasal Verbs

To drink all the liquid in a cup

Compounds

432 1.0

A hot drink of coffee in a cup

123 1.0

An international soccer tournament held every four years where national teams play to win the world title

34 1.0

A small cup with a handle used for drinking coffee

12 1.0

A cup made of paper that you throw away after drinking from it

9 1.0

An amount of sugar that fills one cup used for cooking

8 1.6

A small space in a car or chair that keeps a cup from falling

6 2.7

Final match in a cup competition that decides the winner

5 2.8

An annual international men's team tennis competition

A cup with marks for measuring liquids or dry ingredients

sippy cup
  • Baby Talk
4 2.7

A small spill-proof cup with a lid and spout for young children

cup of java
  • Informal
3 6.8

A cup of coffee people drink to wake up

2 2.8

A small disposable paper cup for drinking water or other drinks

2 3.3

A small cup that sticks to smooth surfaces by pushing the air out

1 7.9

A large cup with two handles given as a trophy at ceremonies

1 1.6

A light disposable container for drinks made from foam plastic

1 1.8

A small round cup of paper, foil, or silicone that holds and shapes muffins while they bake

1 3.5

A person or team that has the cup after winning a competition

cup tie
  • Jargon
1 6.3

A match between teams in a cup competition where the loser is out

1 3.3

A small cup used to shake and throw dice in games

1 1.0

A small dish that holds a boiled egg upright in its shell

sippy cup
  • Offensive
1 5.4

An object given to someone as a joke to show they act like a child

9.9

A small bright red mushroom with a cup-shaped body that grows in woods

A small black, cup-shaped mushroom that grows on dead wood in damp forests

bone-ash cup
  • Archaic
9.9

A small bowl made from bone ash used to separate precious metals during testing

brown cup
  • Specialized
9.9

A small brown mushroom that looks like a cup and grows on dead wood in damp places

A cold mixed drink made with sparkling wine and fruit

A black, cup-shaped mushroom that looks like a burnt pancake

claret cup
  • Archaic
9.2

A cold drink made from red wine, brandy, lemon, sugar, and fresh fruit

A garden flower with bell-shaped blue, purple, or white blooms

cup fungus
  • Specialized
8.1

A small fungus with a cup-shaped body that holds spores

3.5

A small metal hook that you screw under a shelf to hang cups by the handles

cup morel
  • Specialized
9.5

A mushroom you can eat with a cup-shaped body and wrinkles inside

cup of chay
  • Indian
8.4

A cup of tea made with spices, common in South Asia

A warm drink, like tea, that makes you feel better

9.9

A very poisonous white mushroom with a cup-shaped base and white gills that can kill if eaten

drag-cup motor
  • Specialized
7.8

An electric machine with a cup-shaped metal part that turns around a fixed magnet inside

elf cup
  • Specialized
9.9

A small bright red mushroom shaped like a cup that grows on the forest floor

8.4

A hard hollow base at the bottom of an acorn that partly holds the nut

eye cup
  • Specialized
6.7

A small cup that fits around the eye to rinse it or put medicine in it

9.9

A small bright red mushroom with a cup-shaped body

fairy cup
  • Specialized
9.9

A small plant that comes back every year with two opposite leaves and a stem of white flowers

floral cup
  • Specialized
7.6

A cuplike part at the base of a flower that holds small parts like petals and stamens

flower-cup fern
  • Specialized
9.8

A slender plant with shiny brown stalks and divided leaves with small brown dots along the edges

9.3

A medium to large North American tree with acorns in deep fringed cups

mustache cup
  • Archaic
9.8

A cup with a small bar inside the rim that keeps a man's mustache out of the drink

9.9

A plant from Mexico with bright yellow cup-shaped flowers and blue-grey divided leaves

9.9

A cup passed around at the end of a meal for the final toast

A bog plant with dark red, cup-shaped leaves that trap insects

9.9

A plant from western North America with one or two white star-shaped flowers on short leafless stems

rufous rubber cup
  • Specialized
9.9

A small reddish-brown cup-shaped mushroom that grows on dead wood

optic cup
  • Specialized
8.4

A two-layer cup in a developing embryo that becomes the retina's dark and light-sensing layers

9.6

A wild plant with bright red or orange flower parts that look like a brush

A small bright red mushroom shaped like a cup that appears in early spring

9.9

A yellow tropical fruit with juicy sweet flesh

stirrup cup
  • Archaic
9.9

A quick drink given to a person on a horse just before they leave

4.0

A disposable cup made from Styrofoam that keeps drinks hot or cold

How Curved

to curve
22 2.8
to cup
15 3.7
to bend
268 1.0

Surface Forms

cup infinitive
cupped past
cupped past participle
cupping present participle
cups third person singular

Etymology

Cup as a verb comes from shaping your hands into a bowl like a drinking cup, so to 'cup' something is to make a curved, hollow shape with your hands.