noun
cup
KUHP
noun
1
A small open container, usually with a handle, used for drinking.
"She wrapped both hands around a warm cup of tea."
"He knocked his coffee cup off the desk by accident."
2
A unit of volume used in cooking, roughly 237 mL in the US.
"The recipe calls for two cups of flour."
3
A trophy shaped like an oversized cup, or the competition it is awarded for.
"The team lifted the cup after a dramatic penalty shootout."
How to Use Cup
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA small drinking vessel — also used for a cooking measurement and, informally, for any trophy shaped like one.
Common pairings
a cup of coffee
measuring cup
win the cup
Word Forms
cupped past tense, cups plural, Cups plural, cups singular
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She wrapped both hands around a warm _____ of tea.
Etymology
From Old English cuppe and copp, both meaning "cup" or "vessel," ultimately from Latin cuppa/cupa ("tub, cask"). A distant relative of the word "coupe."