Cup-gall noun A kind of oak-leaf gall. See Gall .

Cup-moss noun (Botany) A kind of lichen, of the genus Cladonia .

Cup-rose noun Red poppy. See Cop-rose .

Cupbearer (-bâr`ẽr) noun
1. One whose office it is to fill and hand the cups at an entertainment.

2. (Antiq.) One of the attendants of a prince or noble, permanently charged with the performance of this office for his master. "I was the king's cupbearer ." Neh. i. 11.

Cupboard (kŭb"bẽrd) noun [ Cup + board .]
1. A board or shelf for cups and dishes. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

2. A small closet in a room, with shelves to receive cups, dishes, food, etc.; hence, any small closet.

Cupboard love , interested love, or that which has an eye to the cupboard. "A cupboard love is seldom true." Poor Robin. [ Colloq.] -- To cry cupboard , to call for food; to express hunger. [ Colloq.] "My stomach cries cupboard." W. Irving.

Cupboard transitive verb To collect, as into a cupboard; to hoard. [ R.] Shak.

Cupel (kū"pĕl) noun [ Late Latin cupella cup (cf. Latin cupella , small cask, dim. of cupa ) : confer French coupelle . See Cup , and confer Coblet .] A shallow porous cup, used in refining precious metals, commonly made of bone ashes (phosphate of lime). [ Written also coppel .]

Cupel dust , powder used in purifying metals.

Cupel (ku*pĕl") transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Cupelled (-p?ld"); present participle & verbal noun Cupelling .] To refine by means of a cupel.

Cupellation (kū`pĕl*lā"shŭn) noun [ See Cupel .] The act or process of refining gold or silver, etc., in a cupel.

» The process consist in exposing the cupel containing the metal to be assayed or refined to a hot blast, by which the lead, copper, tin, etc., are oxidized, dissolved, and carried down into the porous cupel, leaving the unoxidizable precious metal. If lead is not already present in the alloy it must be added before cupellation.

Cupful noun ; plural Cupfuls (-f...lz). As much as a cup will hold.

Cupid n . [ Latin Cupido , from cupido desire, desire of love, from cupidus . See Cupidity .] (Rom. Myth.) The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow.

Pretty dimpled boys, like smiling cupids .
Shak.

Cupidity noun [ French cupidite , Latin cupiditas , from cupidus longing, desiring, from cupere to long for, desire. See Covet .]
1. A passionate desire; love. [ Obsolete]

2. Eager or inordinate desire, especially for wealth; greed of gain; avarice; covetousness .

With the feelings of political distrust were mingled those of cupidity and envy, as the Spaniard saw the fairest provinces of the south still in the hands of the accursed race of Ishmael.
Prescott.

Cupola noun ; plural Cupolas (-l...z). [ Italian cupola , Late Latin cupula , cuppula (cf. Latin cupula little tub). from cupa , cuppa , cup; confer Latin cupa tub. So called on account of its resemblance to a cup turned over. See Cup , and confer Cupule .]
1. (Architecture) A roof having a rounded form, hemispherical or nearly so; also, a ceiling having the same form. When on a large scale it is usually called dome .

2. A small structure standing on the top of a dome; a lantern.

3. A furnace for melting iron or other metals in large quantity, -- used chiefly in foundries and steel works.

4. A revolving shot-proof turret for heavy ordnance.

5. (Anat.) The top of the spire of the cochlea of the ear.

Cupper (kŭp"pẽr) noun [ Fropm cup .] One who performs the operation of cupping.

Cupping noun (Medicine) The operation of drawing blood to or from the surface of the person by forming a partial vacuum over the spot. Also, sometimes, a similar operation for drawing pus from an abscess.

Cupping glass , a glass cup in which a partial vacuum is produced by heat, in the process of cupping. -- Dry cupping , the application of a cupping instrument without scarification, to draw blood to the surface, produce counter irritation, etc. -- Wet cupping , the operation of drawing blood by the application of a cupping instrument after scarification.

Cuppy adjective
1. Hollow; cuplike; also, full of cups, or small depressions.

2. Characterized by cup shakes; -- said of timber.

Cupreous adjective [ Latin cupreus , from cuprum .] Consisting of copper or resembling copper; coppery.

Cupric adjective [ From Cuprum .] (Chemistry) Of, pertaining to, or derived from, copper; containing copper; -- said of those compounds of copper in which this element is present in its lowest proportion.

Cupriferous adjective [ Cuprum + -ferous .] Containing copper; as, cupriferous silver.

Cuprite noun (Min.) The red oxide of copper; red copper; an important ore of copper, occurring massive and in isometric crystals.

Cuproid noun [ Cuprum + -oid .] (Crystalloq.) A solid related to a tetrahedron, and contained under twelve equal triangles.

Cuprous adjective [ From Cuprum .] (Chemistry) Of, pertaining to, or derived from, copper; containing copper; -- said of those compounds of copper in which this element is present in its highest proportion.

Cuprum noun [ Latin ] (Chemistry) Copper.

Cupulate adjective Having or bearing cupules; cupuliferous.

Cupule noun [ See Cupola .]
1. (Botany) A cuplet or little cup, as of the acorn; the husk or bur of the filbert, chestnut, etc.

2. (Zoology) A sucker or acetabulum.

Cupuliferous adjective [ Cupule + -ferous : confer French cupulifère .] Of, pertaining to, or resembling, the family of plants of which the oak and the chestnut are examples, -- trees bearing a smooth, solid nut inclosed in some kind of cup or bur; bearing, or furnished with, a cupule.

Cur (kûr) noun [ Middle English curre , kur ; confer dial. Swedish kurre dog, OD. korre watchdog, and Icelandic kurra to murmur, grumble, Swedish kurra to rumble, croak, Danish kurre to coo, whirr; probably of imitative origin.]
1. A mongrel or inferior dog.

They . . . like to village curs ,
Bark when their fellows do.
Shak.

2. A worthless, snarling fellow; -- used in contempt.

What would you have, you curs ,
That like nor peace nor war?
Shak.

Curability noun The state of being curable; curableness.

Curable adjective [ Confer French curable . See Cure , transitive verb ] Capable of being cured; admitting remedy. " Curable diseases." Harvey. -- Cur"a*ble*ness , noun -- Cur`a*bly , adverb

Curaçao, Curaçoa noun A liqueur, or cordial, flavored with orange peel, cinnamon, and mace; -- first made at the island of Curaçcao .

Curacy noun ; plural Curacies (-s...z). [ See Cure , Curate .] The office or employment of a curate.

Curare, Curari noun [ Native name. Confer Wourall .] A black resinoid extract prepared by the South American Indians from the bark of several species of Strychnos ( S. toxifera , etc.). It sometimes has little effect when taken internally, but is quickly fatal when introduced into the blood, and used by the Indians as an arrow poison. [ Written also urari , woorali , woorari , etc.]

Curarine noun (Chemistry) A deadly alkaloid extracted from the curare poison and from the Strychnos toxifera . It is obtained in crystalline colorless salts.

Curarize transitive verb To poison with curare.

Curassow noun [ Native name in Brazil.] (Zool.) A large gallinaceous bird of the American genera Crax , Ourax , etc., of the family Cracidæ .

» The crested curassow ( Crax alector ) is black, and about the size of a small hen-turkey, with an erectile crest of curled feathers. It ranges from Mexico to Brazil. The galeated curassow or cushew bird ( Ourax Pauxi ) is similar in size, and has a large, hollow, blue, pear-shaped protuberance on the head.

Curat noun [ See Cuirass .] A cuirass or breastplate. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Curate noun [ Late Latin curatus , prop., one who is charged with the care (L. cura ) of souls. See Cure , noun , and confer Curé ] One who has the cure of souls; originally, any clergyman, but now usually limited to one who assists a rector or vicar. Hook.

All this the good old man performed alone,
He spared no pains, for curate he had none.
Dryden.

Curateship noun A curacy.

Curation noun [ Confer Old French curacion .] Cure; healing. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Curative adjective [ Confer French curatif . See Cure , transitive verb ] Relating to, or employed in, the cure of diseases; tending to cure. Arbuthnot.

Curator (k?-r?"t?r). noun [ Latin , from curare to take care of, from cura care.]
1. One who has the care and superintendence of anything, as of a museum; a custodian; a keeper.

2. One appointed to act as guardian of the estate of a person not legally competent to manage it, or of an absentee; a trustee; a guardian.

Curatorship noun The office of a curator.

Curatrix noun [ Latin ]
1. A woman who cures.

2. A woman who is a guardian or custodian. Burrill.

Curb transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Curbed (k?rbd); present participle & verbal noun Curbing .] [ French courber to bend, curve, Latin curvare , from curvus bent, curved; confer Greek .................. curved. Confer Curve .]
1. To bend or curve [ Obsolete]

Crooked and curbed lines.
Holland.

2. To guide and manage, or restrain, as with a curb; to bend to one's will; to subject; to subdue; to restrain; to confine; to keep in check.

Part wield their arms, part curb the foaming steed.
Milton.

Where pinching want must curb thy warm desires.
Prior.

3. To furnish wich a curb, as a well; also, to restrain by a curb, as a bank of earth.

Curb intransitive verb To bend; to crouch; to cringe. [ Obsolete]

Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg,
Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.
Shak.

Curb noun
1. That which curbs, restrains, or subdues; a check or hindrance; esp., a chain or strap attached to the upper part of the branches of a bit, and capable of being drawn tightly against the lower jaw of the horse.

He that before ran in the pastures wild
Felt the stiff curb control his angry jaws.
Drayton.

By these men , religion , that should be
The curb , is made the spur of tyranny.
Denham.

2. (Architecture) An assemblage of three or more pieces of timber, or a metal member, forming a frame around an opening, and serving to maintain the integrity of that opening; also, a ring of stone serving a similar purpose, as at the eye of a dome.

3. A frame or wall round the mouth of a well; also, a frame within a well to prevent the earth caving in.

4. A curbstone.

5. (Far.) A swelling on the back part of the hind leg of a horse, just behind the lowest part of the hock joint, generally causing lameness. James Law.

Curb bit , a stiff bit having branches by which a leverage is obtained upon the jaws of horse. Knight. -- Curb pins (Horology) , the pins on the regulator which restrain the hairspring. -- Curb plate (Architecture) , a plate serving the purpose of a curb. -- Deck curb . See under Deck .

Curb roof (r??f`). A roof having a double slope, or composed, on each side, of two parts which have unequal inclination; a gambrel roof.

Curbless adjective Having no curb or restraint.

Curbstone (kûrb"stōn`) noun A stone set along a margin as a limit and protection, as along the edge of a sidewalk next the roadway; an edge stone.

Curbstone broker . See under Broker .

Curch noun See Courche .