Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A closet or cabinet, usually with shelves for storing food, crockery, and utensils.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To gather as into a cupboard; hoard up.
  • noun Originally, a table on which cups and other vessels, of gold or silver, or of earthenware, for household use or ornament, were kept or displayed; later, a table with shelves, a sideboard, buffet, or cabinet, open or closed, used for such purpose; in modern use, generally, a series of shelves, inclosed or placed in a closet, for keeping cups, dishes, and other table-ware.
  • noun A similar sideboard, cabinet, or closet of shelves for the keeping of provisions about to be used.
  • noun Hence The set or collection of silver or gold plate, fine glass, decorated ceramic ware, etc., usually kept in a cupboard. Compare credence, 4.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb rare To collect, as into a cupboard; to hoard.
  • noun obsolete A board or shelf for cups and dishes.
  • noun A small closet in a room, with shelves to receive cups, dishes, food, etc.; hence, any small closet.
  • noun [Colloq.] interested love, or that which has an eye to the cupboard.
  • noun [Colloq.] to call for food; to express hunger.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An enclosed storage space with a door, usually having shelves, used to store crockery, food, etc.
  • noun obsolete A table or sideboard on which to display or store cups, dishes etc.
  • verb To collect, as into a cupboard; to hoard.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English cuppebord.

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Examples

  • And while the prospect of finding my boss dead and stuffed into a cupboard is appealing, I think I will pass on the The War Against Miss Winter.

    A Crime Round-Up « Tales from the Reading Room 2008

  • I haven't posted about Amelie Nothomb in a while but that doesn't mean I've stopped reading her out of choice, the cupboard is almost bare and I'm reduced to famine rationing because supplies in English are running low after that very greedy feast I had in the early days.

    52 entries from February 2007 2007

  • I haven't posted about Amelie Nothomb in a while but that doesn't mean I've stopped reading her out of choice, the cupboard is almost bare and I'm reduced to famine rationing because supplies in English are running low after that very greedy feast I had in the early days.

    Le Sabotage amoureux 2007

  • Yes, the cupboard is a low one the kids can access.

    Plastic Elimination Campaign: Kid's Dishes regina doman 2007

  • I haven't posted about Amelie Nothomb in a while but that doesn't mean I've stopped reading her out of choice, the cupboard is almost bare and I'm reduced to famine rationing because supplies in English are running low after that very greedy feast I had in the early days.

    Le Sabotage amoureux 2007

  • -- Besides, "he added," I never can find anything in what you call the cupboard behind the curtain of the story.

    Donal Grant, by George MacDonald George MacDonald 1864

  • So here's what I 'created' today that took pretty much no effort, and was created just because I went through a bunch of crap in cupboard to throw it all out, and thought I should do something with this.

    DIY zombietron 2009

  • I have that exact box of custard powder as a permanent fixture in my food cupboard … which, considering the tiny size of my cupboard is saying a lot.

    What is custard powder? | Baking Bites 2009

  • App Catalog: Similar to the initial iPhone and Android launches, the software cupboard is bare, with only a dozen apps or so.

    Palm Pre: 3 Things We Like & 3 Things We Don’t 2009

  • So here's what I 'created' today that took pretty much no effort, and was created just because I went through a bunch of crap in cupboard to throw it all out, and thought I should do something with this.

    Archive 2009-04-01 zombietron 2009

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