teacupn.
a.
(a) A cup from which tea is drunk: usually of small or moderate size, with a handle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > drinking vessel > [noun] > tea-cup or saucer
saucer1693
teacup1700
tea-dish1711
tea-saucer1762
tea-china1790
1700 W. Congreve Way of World iv. i. 64 Let Mahometan Fools..be damn'd over Tea-Cups and Coffee.
1714 J. Addison Lover No. 10. ⁋4 The fashion of the teacup..has run through a wonderful variety of colour, shape, and size.
1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 235 While broken tea-cups..Ranged o'er the chimney, glistened in a row.
1884 H. P. Spofford in Harper's Mag. Nov. 889/1 In a sort of Oriental divination they always turned their tea-cups,..after the tea-drinking which they loved.
1910 N.E.D. at Tea-cup Mod. The subject has been mentioned ‘over the tea-cups’ i.e. unofficially; speaking of the establishment of a public institution.
(b) With reference to fortune-telling by means of interpreting the arrangement of tea-leaves left in a cup. Cf. tea-leaf n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > fortune-telling > [noun] > instruments used in
tarot1872
teacup1883
tea-leaf1883
wish card1922
1883 C. S. Burne Shropshire Folk-lore xxi. 277 The apparitions which..nurses used to discover in their tea-cups when they had..emptied the last remains of the tea in such a manner as to leave the dregs scattered well over the bottom and sides of the cup.
1921 C. Kent Fortune-telling by Tea-leaves ii. 24 A confused looking tea-cup, without any symbols..is useless for the purpose of divination.
1954 M. Sharp Gipsy in Parlour xii. 127 Cook..had an eye for tall dark strangers, who frequently appeared in her tea-cup.
1976 A. E. Lindop in Winter's Crimes 8 216 She can ‘see’ what's best for us... She'll look into our teacups.
b. As much as a teacup contains, a teacupful.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > amount defined by capacity > [noun] > amount that fills a receptacle > cup or mug
cupful?a1400
gobletful?c1425
tass1480
mug1682
teacup1758
mugful1838
scaleful1844
1758 R. Pultney in Philos. Trans. 1757 (Royal Soc.) 50 81 She took something more than a tea-cup of the infusion.
c. a storm in a teacup: a great commotion in a circumscribed circle, or about a matter of small or only local importance: see storm n. Similarly teacup storm, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > misjudgement > [noun] > overestimation or overrating > storm in a teacup
great (also much) cry and little woolc1460
a storm in a teacup1854
tempest in a tea-pot1854
tea-pot tempest1896
teacup storm1951
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > commotion, disturbance, or disorder > [noun] > instance of > about a trifling matter
a storm in a teacup1854
tempest in a tea-pot1854
teacup storm1932
1854 W. B. Bernard (title) A storm in a teacup.
1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton xix She has raised a storm in a tea-cup by her..unwarranted assault.
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 19 Sept. 4/1 M. Renan's visit..to his birthplace in Brittany has raised a storm in the clerical teacup.
1900 G. C. Brodrick Mem. & Impr. 360 Here the storm in the Oxford tea~cup raged as furiously as in the open sea.
1932 Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Sept. 639/1 Those old disputes were no teacup squalls.
1951 Sport 16–22 Mar. 14/3 Earlier this season a slight ‘teacup storm’ occurred in Yorkshire Rugby Union circles.
1981 W. Safire in N.Y. Times Mag. 15 Feb. 11/1 In the midst of this teacup contretemps came a clear message from John Radosta.
d. attributive. teacup-and-saucer comedy, comedy of a mild and ‘proper’ character.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > a comedy > other types of comedy
Old Comedy1529
New Comedy1542
comedy of errors?1595
romantic comedy1748
musical comedy1765
comédie larmoyante1773
sketch1789
serio-comedy1808
vaudeville1827
teacup-and-saucer comedy1842
satyr play1845
Restoration comedy1866
zarzuela1888
situation comedy1893
sex comedy1915
sitcom1956
1842 Ld. Tennyson Talking Oak xvi, in Poems (new ed.) II. 68 Beauties, that were born In teacup-times of hood and hoop, Or while the patch was worn.
1895 Athenæum 8 June 748/2 ‘Tea-cup-and-saucer comedy’..was the invention of Thomas Purnell.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 30 Mar. 2/3 A little too much like..the tea-cup business of Alice in Wonderland.
1902 Daily Chron. 23 Sept. 3/3 Young girls..find a gentle interest in her mild heroics of tea-cup-and-saucer comedy.
Derivatives
(Plural teacupfuls, teacups full.)
ˈteacupful n. as much as a teacup will contain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > [noun] > specific liquid or dry units > cup as unit
teacupful1705
cup1857
cupful1896
1705 Philos. Trans. 1704–05 (Royal Soc.) 24 1790 [I] took about a Tea-cupful.
1789 J. Pilkington View Derbyshire I. viii. 355 The dose 2 tea~cups full or more.
1838 Q. Jrnl. Agric. 9 No. 42. 290 A salt~spoonful of salt and a tea-cupful of warm water.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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