cupboard

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A board or table used to openly hold and display silver plate and other dishware; a sideboard; a buffet.

   Cupboꝛde of plate or to ſette plate upon buffet z ma.

2. 2
   noun

   Things displayed on a sideboard; dishware, particularly valuable plate.

   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 lede, or alcumyn?

3. 3
   noun

   A cabinet, closet, or other piece of furniture with shelves intended for storing cookware, dishware, or food; similar cabinets or closets used for storing other items.

   Put the cups back into the cupboard.

4. 4
   noun

   A closet for storing coats.

   I hung the coat in the cupboard and bided my time.

5. 5
   noun

   Things stored in a cupboard; particularly food.

   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].

6. 6
   verb

   To collect, as into a cupboard; to hoard.

   There was a time, when all the bodies members / Rebell'd againſt the Belly; thus accus'd it: / That onely like a Gulfe it did remaine / I'th midd'ſt a th'body, idle and vnactiue, / Still cubbording the Viand, neuer bearing / Like labour with the reſt, where th'other Inſtruments / Did ſee, and heare, deuiſe, inſtruct, walke, feele, / And mutually participate, did miniſter / Vnto the appetite; […]

7. 7
   noun

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

Etymology

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.