English
cupboard
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈkʌbəd/
  • (GA) IPA: /ˈkʌbɚd/
Noun

cupboard (plural cupboards)

  1. (obsolete) A board or table use#Verb|used to openly hold and display silver plate and other dishware; a sideboard; a buffet#Noun|buffet.
    • circa 1380 John Wycliffe, Of Antecrist and his Meynee; published as John Wycliffe; James Henthorn Todd, Three Treatises by John Wycklyffe, D.D. I. Of the Church and Her Members. II. Of the Apostacy of the Church. III. Of Antichrist and His Meynee. Now First Printed from a Manuscript in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, with Notes and a Glossary, by James Henthorn Todd, D.D., Dublin: Hodges and Smith, Grafton-Street, booksellers to the University, 1851, OCLC 505328367 ↗, page cl ↗:
      Loke Cristis copborde / & hors; & pei ben ful unlichy; for he was at þe mete where six watur pottes weren / & he was þe worþiest in þat place.
    • circa 1400 the Alliterative Morte Arthure; published as James Orchard Halliwell, editor, Morte Arthure. The Alliterative Romance of the Death of King Arthur. Now First Printed from a Manuscript in Lincoln Cathedral, Brixton Hill, London: For private circulation only, 1947, OCLC 5347067 ↗, page 18 ↗:
      The kyngez cope-borde / was closed in silver, / In grete goblettez overgylte / glorious of hewe; […]
  2. (obsolete) Things display#Verb|displayed on a sideboard; dishware, particularly valuable plate.
    • ante 1529 John Skelton, Why Come Ye Nat to Courte?; published in John Skelton; Alexander Dyce, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: With Notes, and Some Account of the Author and His Writings, by the Rev. Alexander Dyce. In Two Volumes., volume II, London: Thomas Rodd, Great Newport Street, 1843, OCLC 733571702 ↗, page 54, lines 897–904 ↗:
      But howe comme to pas, / Your cupbord that was / Is tourned to glasse, / From syluere to brasse, / From golde to pewter, / Or els to a newter, / To copper, to tyn, / To lead#Noun|lede, or alcumyn?
  3. A cabinet, closet, or other piece of furniture with shelves intended for store#Verb|storing cookware, dishware, or food; similar cabinets or closets used for storing other items.
    Put the cups back into the cupboard.
    • 1530 July 18, John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse compose par maistre Iohan Palsgraue Angloyse natyf de Londres, et gradue de Paris [The Clarification of the French Language Composed by Master John Paslgrave, English Native of London, and Graduated from Paris], [London?]: The imprinting [by Richard Pynson, c. 1524] fynysshed by Iohan Haukyns […], OCLC 606548205 ↗; republished as John Palsgrave; Giles Duwes, F[rançois] Génin, editor, L'éclaircissement de la langue française par Jean Palsgrave, suivi de la grammaire de Giles du Guez, publiés pour la première fois en France [The Clarification of the French Language by John Palsgrave, Followed by the Grammar of Giles Duwes, Published for the First Time in France], Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1852, OCLC 68807038 ↗, page 211 ↗:
      Cupborde to putte meate in – dressover s, m.
  4. (obsolete) Things stored in a cupboard; particularly food.
    • circa 1665 Roxburghe Ballads; published as J[oseph] W[oodfall] Ebsworth, editor, The Roxburghe Ballads: Illustrating the Last Years of the Stuarts, volume VI, Hertford: Printed for the Ballad Society by S. Austin and Sons, 1871–1899, OCLC 13767296 ↗, page 529, lines 26–30:
      Some men they [make] love for what they can get, / And 'tis certain there's many a Lubbard; / Will sigh and will pant, seeming ready to faint, / And all for the love of the cubbard, brave boys! / And all [for the love of the Cup-board].
Synonyms Translations Translations Verb

cupboard (cupboards, present participle cupboarding; past and past participle cupboarded)

  1. To collect, as into a cupboard; to hoard. [from 16th century.]


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