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Glite Dictionary
cup hook

cup hook

3.5
A small metal hook that you screw under a shelf to hang cups by the handles
  • noun
translation icon : gancho para tazas
  • The carpenter recommended using cup hooks to neatly organize the cups on the wall by the sink.
  • cup hook to hang

Examples

  • Salinger installed cup hooks upon which he would place scenes he had written.

    Salinger (2013)

  • He saw then that there were name placards on each of the cubbyholes, hung on cup hooks as if for easy removal.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • To save space in the kitchen, I installed several cup hooks under the shelf to hang my coffee mugs.

  • We used cup hooks to keep our favorite mugs within reach, hanging them right above the coffee machine.

Synonyms

hook
vscup hook
192 1.0

A curved piece used to catch or hang things

is a small screwed version mainly for suspending handled drinking vessels
eyehook
vscup hook
5.5

A small metal loop used to fasten clothing or hang small items

is fixed under shelves to suspend handled drinking vessels

Surface Forms

cup hook singular
cup hooks plural

Morphology

cup + hook

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'cup' (a drinking vessel) with 'hook' (a curved implement for hanging): it denotes a hook for hanging cups. This modifier+head noun compounding pattern is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Cup hook comes from the simple picture of a cup hanging on a small hook under a shelf, so the cup is easy to reach. That's why it means a small curved metal hook you screw into a shelf to 'hang' mugs by their 'handles'.