to drain the cup
1
6.9
- phrasal verb
:
vaciar la taza
- Feeling refreshed, he drained the cup of tea before heading out into the cold.
Examples
-
After a long hike, he drained the cup of water in just a few seconds.
-
When he’d drained the cup, he said, "You know, everybody's got a theory about homing pigeons."
Fiction book (1998) -
Taste this... ...so that I may drain the cup.
-
We're gonna drain the cup dry Wait tiii your charms are right
-
He drained the cup in a single draft and set it on the lid of the cooler.
Fiction book (1995) -
Then drains the cup and puts it down. KAFFEE (continuing)
Fiction book (1992) -
Saturn drained the cup, and the Quaker refilled it.
Fiction book (2002) -
It let him drain the cup, after which it let his head gently to the stone floor and crouched beside him, waiting; he had no idea for what.
Fiction book (1992) -
She delicately drained the cup of vodka, pinky raised to the ceiling, as the caballero reached for his pistola and quoted from admiring colleagues.
Fiction book (1995) -
She smiled as she drained the cup of coffee, savoring every last drop.
Synonyms
31
1.4
To finish all the liquid in a cup or bottle so nothing is left
16
5.8
To drink a lot very quickly
2
5.7
To drink all of a glass or bottle quickly in one go
1
3.2
To empty a glass quickly in one long gulp
How Empty
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to drink all the liquid in a cup' is directly derivable from combining 'drain' (to cause liquid to flow out / to empty) with 'cup' (a drinking container); a B1 learner who knows both words will understand this as emptying the cup. There is minor ambiguity about the method (drinking vs pouring), but the core idea of emptying the container to the last drop is transparent and follows normal compositional logic.
Etymology
Drain the cup comes from the simple image of tipping a cup so the last drops run out and you drain it. That's why it means 'to drink to the last drop'.