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# cupping

noun (cupping; uncountable); verb form (present participle of cup: cupping)

«cupping» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (verb form) Holding your hands in a curved shape like a cup: «cupping water in her hands», «cupping his ear to hear». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cupping/#m1)
2. (noun) Cupping therapy: an old treatment in which cups are placed on the skin and the air in them is reduced so the skin is sucked up, leaving round marks; some people believe it helps aches, but there is little good scientific evidence for it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cupping/#m2)
3. (noun) In the coffee and tea trade, cupping is a careful tasting of coffee by smelling and slurping it to judge its quality. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cupping/#m3)

### In the lessons

In everyday life and stories, people cup their hands to drink from a stream, carry a baby bird, warm their hands or call out loudly. Swimmers at the Olympics have shown round cupping marks, which led to news stories; in science lessons this is a good example to ask «what is the evidence?». Phrases: «cupping your hands», «cupping your ear», «cupping therapy», «coffee cupping».

### Examples

- She was cupping a tiny frog in her hands. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cupping/#x1)
- He shouted with his hands cupped around his mouth. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cupping/#x2)
- Grandad was cupping his ear because he couldn't hear me. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cupping/#x3)
- The swimmer had round red marks on his back from cupping. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cupping/#x4)
- Scientists say there is not much evidence that cupping therapy works. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cupping/#x5)
- We drank from the stream by cupping the water in our hands. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cupping/#x6)
- At the coffee shop, the staff were cupping new beans to taste them. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cupping/#x7)

### Note

Comes from the verb «cup» (cup, cups, cupped, cupping) with double p. «Cupping» is not about cups of tea in the everyday sense. When a health treatment is popular with famous people, that is not proof it works; look for fair tests.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «cupping» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cupping/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«cupping» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/cupping.html) on Mova free.