Meaning & use
cupful
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
The amount of something that a cup can hold.
Grammar: Countable noun: use 'a cupful' or 'cupfuls'. Often followed by 'of' + noun: a cupful of sugar.
Patterns
- a cupful of something
- cupfuls of something
Add a cupful of water to the mixture.
She poured two cupfuls of flour into the bowl.
The recipe calls for three cupfuls of milk.
Word forms
| plural | cupfuls |
|---|---|
| plural | cupsful |
Common combinations
- a cupful of sugar
- The cake needs a cupful of sugar.
- a cupful of water
- Dissolve the powder in a cupful of water.
- a cupful of rice
- Cook a cupful of rice for two people.
- by the cupful
- He drank the soup by the cupful.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cup
- In cooking, 'cup' is the standard unit of measurement (8 fluid ounces), while 'cupful' means the amount that fills any cup, not a fixed measure.
Word family
Commonly confused: cupful or cup?
cupful vs cup
'Cup' is the container or the unit; 'cupful' is the amount that fills it. In recipes, 'one cup' means a standard measuring cup, but 'one cupful' can mean any cup filled to the top.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The correct pattern is 'a cupful of + noun'. Option 2 is missing 'of', option 3 uses a plural form with 'a', and option 4 is missing the article 'a'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cupful”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.