ENGLISH
REFERENCE

cupboard

n. countable
A2 Elementary Oxford US //ˈkəbɝd// UK //kˈʌbəd// cup·board Archaic General-service

n. a piece of furniture with doors and shelves used for storing things like food, clothes, or dishes. You usually find them in the kitchen or bedroom.

n. a cabinet or recessed space with a door and shelves, used for storage. Frequently used in British English to refer to any storage unit, whereas American English often prefers 'closet' for clothes.


SIMPLE

Please put the clean plates back in the kitchen cupboard.

CONTEXTUAL

She opened the cupboard to see if there was enough flour left to bake a cake.

COMPLEX

The old wooden cupboard in the hallway was packed so tightly with winter coats and umbrellas that the door would no longer latch properly.

Synonyms
Origin

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.

Usage

Commonly used with the preposition 'in' to describe the location of items.

Idioms3 entries

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