A cupboard is a piece of furniture that has one or two doors, usually contains shelves, and is used to store things. In British English, cupboard refers to all kinds of furniture like this. In American English, closet is usually used instead to refer to larger pieces of furniture.
The kitchen cupboard was stocked with tins of soup and food.
Synonyms: cabinet, closet [US], locker, press More Synonyms of cupboard
2. countable noun
A cupboard is a very small room that is used to store things, especially one without windows.
[British]regional note: in AM, use closet
3. a skeleton in the cupboard
cupboard in British English
(ˈkʌbəd)
noun
a piece of furniture or a recessed area of a room, with a door concealing storage space
cupboard in American English
(ˈkʌbərd)
noun
a closet or cabinet with shelves for holding cups, plates, food, and the like
Word origin
ME cuppebord: see cup & board
More idioms containing
cupboard
cupboard love
Examples of 'cupboard' in a sentence
cupboard
Taking up a reel of aluminium wire is far better than an entire store cupboard.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Hopefully, there is a can of decent tuna in the store cupboard.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The freezer may be empty, but the kitchen cupboard is stuffed with dog beds.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Make sure that your dog or cat always has somewhere to hide, such as a cupboard or under furniture?
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Small steps could make a big difference; by having cupboards painted instead of replaced you can save a fortune.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But all I can see is annoying angles and a critical lack of cupboard space.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The meals, snacks and desserts are simple to make and involve K ingredients that many will have in their kitchen cupboards and fridges already.
The Sun (2016)
This arrangement leaves space for cupboards on either side of the fireplaces.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
They are ideal as little storage containers in your food cupboard.
The Sun (2010)
It fills one fitted cupboard and one chest of drawers in my bedroom.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Storage boxes underneath can be used instead of cupboards.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
This is practically an instant meal that you can make from store cupboard ingredients.
Bennett, Carol Asthma and Eczema - special diet cookbook (1989)
The cupboard door is left open again.
O'Keeffe, John Your One Week Way to Mind-Fitness (1994)
It houses the bathroom and hidden cupboard space that contains an archive of their previous work.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Make it a good excuse to clear out the food cupboard.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Pop to the kitchen cupboards instead and grab a tub of cocoa powder.
The Sun (2015)
The ethos of this dish is the accommodation of leftovers and store cupboard bits and bob.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
One curved walnut kitchen cupboard had eight layers of gloss applied to perfect its sheen.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
In one case a carpenter was extradited for stealing cupboard doors back from a difficult client.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
And the cupboard space is actually more useful for my cashmere jumpers than groceries.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
It only occurs to me to buy food when the cupboards are bare.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
On the floor of one of the cupboards was an iron chest about two feet by eighteen inches.
Frederick Marryat The Children of the New Forest (1847)
Why would you wash up a grubby saucepan when you could just grab another clean one from the cupboard?
The Sun (2011)
He ransacked drawers and cupboards in her room, but it is not known if anything wasstolen.
The Sun (2011)
A pantry was a room or large cupboard where dry goods were kept.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
A pantry is a room or cupboard where dry goods are stored.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The game was held up for 45 minutes by a fire in a storage cupboard apparently caused by a cigarette.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Over the years many devices will have been left in cupboards instead of traded in, but will still be on the checklist.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Just by spending 15-20 minutes once a week to make sure your wardrobes and storage cupboards are tidy will make you feel in control.
The Sun (2008)
I like to have lots of storage: cupboards and boxes.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
In other languages
cupboard
British English: cupboard /ˈkʌbəd/ NOUN
A cupboard is a piece of furniture with doors at the front and usually shelves inside.
The kitchen cupboard was full of cans of soup.
American English: cupboard
Arabic: خِزَانَة لِلَأطْبَاق والكُؤوس
Brazilian Portuguese: armário
Chinese: 小橱
Croatian: ormar
Czech: skříň
Danish: skab
Dutch: kast
European Spanish: aparador
Finnish: kaappi
French: placard
German: Schrank
Greek: ντουλάπι
Italian: credenza
Japanese: 戸棚
Korean: 찬장
Norwegian: skap
Polish: kredens
European Portuguese: armário
Romanian: dulap
Russian: буфет
Latin American Spanish: armario
Swedish: skåp
Thai: ตู้
Turkish: dolap mobilya
Ukrainian: буфет
Vietnamese: tủ đựng chén bát
All related terms of 'cupboard'
cupboard love
the insincere affection shown by children or animals towards someone who they think will give them something that they want
fume cupboard
a ventilated enclosure for storing or experimenting with chemicals with harmful vapours
wall cupboard
a cupboard that is fixed to a wall
airing cupboard
In British houses , an airing cupboard is a warm cupboard where you put clothes and other things that have been washed and partly dried, to make sure they are completely dry.
broom cupboard
a small cupboard or closet for storing brooms , mops , etc
court cupboard
a wooden stand with two or three tiers , used in the 16th and 17th centuries to display pewter , silver , etc
linen cupboard
a cupboard for storing sheets , towels , table linen and related items
medicine cupboard
a small cupboard , often in a bathroom , in which medicines and toiletries are kept
stationery cupboard
a cupboard where things like paper , pens and paper clips are kept
skeleton in the cupboard
a scandalous fact or event in the past that is kept secret
a skeleton in the cupboard a skeleton in the closet
If you say that someone has a skeleton in the closet , or in British English a skeleton in the cupboard , you mean that they are keeping secret a bad or embarrassing fact about themselves.
have a skeleton in the closet
to keep secret something which would be scandalous or embarrassing for you if other people knew about it
Chinese translation of 'cupboard'
cupboard
(ˈkʌbəd)
n(c)
(= piece of furniture) 柜(櫃)子 (guìzi) (个(個), gè)
(Brit, = room) 小储(儲)藏室 (xiǎo chǔcángshì)
美 = closet
(noun)
Definition
a piece of furniture or a recess with a door, for storage
The kitchen cupboard was stocked with tins of food.
Synonyms
cabinet
a display cabinet with gleaming trophies
closet (US)
Perhaps there's room in the broom closet.
locker
The stolen items were found in his locker at work.
press
ambry (obsolete)
subject word lists
See Cupboards and cabinets
Additional synonyms
in the sense of closet
Definition
a small cupboard
Perhaps there's room in the broom closet.
Synonyms
cupboard,
cabinet,
recess,
cubicle,
cubbyhole
in the sense of locker
Definition
a small compartment with a lock, used for temporarily storing clothes, valuables, or luggage
The stolen items were found in his locker at work.