cupboards

Noun

cupboard (plural cupboards)

1. (obsolete) 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.1530 July 18, Iohan Palſgrave, “The thirde boke”, in Leſclarciſſement de la langue francoyſe […] , London: Richard Pynſon, Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, page 203; reprinted as Lesclarcissement de la langue...

   Synonyms:

   sideboard

2. (obsolete) 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?a. 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...
3. 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. (Pennsylvania, UK, Western) A closet for storing coats.
   • I hung the coat in the cupboard and bided my time.2023, Susie Boyt, “Hot under the collar: the coat of your dreams”, in Financial Times, London: The Financial Times Ltd
5. (obsolete) 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].c. 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...

See all 6 meanings of cupboard