[f. CUP sb.]
1. Surg. (trans.) To apply a cupping-glass to; to bleed by means of a cupping-glass. Also absol.
1482. Monk of Evesham (Arb.), 32. As a mannys flesh is wont to blede whenne hit is cuppid.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1673), 335. Set a cupping-glasse thereon, and cup it.
1695. Congreve, Love for L., I. ii. A beau in a bagnio, cupping for a complexion.
1757. Franklin, Lett., Wks. 1887, II. 522. They cupped me on the back of the head.
1829. Scott, Jrnl. (1890), II. 294. Dr. Ross ordered me to be cupped.
† 2. To supply with cups, i.e., with liquor; to make drunk, intoxicate. Obs. rare.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., II. vii. 124. Cup vs till the world go round.
1630. J. Taylor (Water P.), Wks. (N.). Well entertain’d I was, and halfe well cup’d.
b. intr. To indulge in ‘cups’; to drink deep.
c. 1625. T. Adams, Wks. (1861), I. 484. The former is not more thirsty after his cupping than the latter is hungry after his devouring.
1649–1868. [see CUPPING 2].
3. trans. To receive, place, or take as in a cup.
1838. J. Struthers, Poetic Tales, 138. The dew-drop cupped in the cowslip.
1879. J. D. Long, Æneid, VIII. 85. He reverently in his hollow hands Cups water from the stream.
4. a. intr. To form a cup; to be or become cup-shaped.
1830. Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 7), II. 368. Mr. Woodward suggests … that the umbels not cupping is owing to their small size.
1851. Beck’s Florist. New Dahlias … petals smooth, and gently cupping to the centre.
b. Golf. ‘To mark or break (the ground) with the club when striking the ball; also, to strike (the ground) with the club when driving a ball’ (Jam. Supp.). Cf. CUP sb. 5.
