the cupboard is bare
1
6.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
el armario está vacío
- Despite my best efforts to save, the cupboard is bare by the end of the month.
Examples
-
Hayden's time had come to a seemingly swift end, and when he left, the cupboard was bare.
Blog text (9) -
The cupboard was bare, and Peters would have to restock it after Lane's almost pathological need to have a deal going.
Blog text (28) -
When I opened the kitchen door, I realized that the cupboard is bare and there was no food left.
-
After checking the pantry, she sighed in frustration because the cupboard is bare.
Synonyms
3
3.2
A used bottle or can that people return for money
1
9.9
A cupboard or pantry that has no food
Antonyms
How Empty
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'there are no supplies' is directly derivable from combining 'cupboard' (a storage cabinet) with 'bare' (empty, lacking contents). This is a literal, compositional use common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would understand the MWE.
Etymology
The cupboard is bare comes from the simple picture of a kitchen cupboard with empty shelves, where the shelves are bare and there is no food. So it now means 'there are no supplies' or 'nothing is available'.