Cupboard Meaning
/ˈkʌb.əd/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA board or table used to openly hold and display silver plate and other dishware; a sideboard; a buffet.
nounThings displayed on a sideboard; dishware, particularly valuable plate.
Sentence Examples
Open the cupboard to the left, the bottles are in there.
Put the knives and forks back in the cupboard.
Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
He opened the kitchen ____ to take out a box of cereal for breakfast.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Open the ____ to the left, the bottles are in there.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English cuppeborde, cupbord. Equivalent to cup + board. Phonetic variants show that the /p/ in the original forms had assimilated to the present-day /b/ by the 16th century; the etymological spelling has, however, dominated from the 18th century.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Cupboꝛde of plate or to ſette plate upon buffet z ma."
— 1530 July 18, Iohan Palſgrave, “The thirde boke”, in Leſclarciſſement de la langue francoyſe […] , London: Richard Pynſon, Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, page 203; reprinted as Lesclarcissement de la langue françoyse, Genève: Slatkine Reprints, 1972:
"from the cobbarde byſyde owr dyninge table"
— 1555, Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, “The fourth booke of the seconde Decade, of the supposed Continent”, in Richard Eden, transl., Decades of the New World, page 68:
"Now when the maids and pages all were gone, / One onely lampe upon the cubbard burning[…]"
— 1591, Ludovico Ariosto, translated by Sir John Harington, Orlando Furioso, London: G. Miller, translation of original in Italian, published 1634, book XXV, stanza 49, page 201:
"Cupborde to putte meate in – dressover s, m."
— 1530 July 18, Iohan Palſgrave, Leſclarciſſement de la langue francoyſe […] , London: Richard Pynſon, Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, page 211; reprinted as L'éclaircissement de la langue française par Jean Palsgrave […] , Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1852:
"Old Mother Hubbard / Went to the cupboard, / To give the poor dog a bone; / When she came there, / The cupboard was bare, / And so the poor dog had none."
— 1814 May 1, “Minimus” [pseudonym], “Fine Arts”, in The Satirist, or Monthly Meteor, volume XIV, number 18 (New Series), London: Printed for Samuel Tipper by T. Gillet, →OCLC, page 417:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He opened the kitchen ____ to take out a box of cereal for breakfast.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Open the ____ to the left, the bottles are in there.