Meaning & use
trophy cabinet
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A cabinet with a glass front in which cups, medals and other prizes are displayed.
Grammar: Takes a plural: two trophy cabinets; usually with 'the' for a specific club or school.
Patterns
- in the trophy cabinet
- add something to the trophy cabinet
The school's trophy cabinet is full of dusty cups from the 1980s.
He keeps his medals in a trophy cabinet in the living room.
A new shelf was fitted to the trophy cabinet for the latest prizes.
nounsingularfigurativeBritishinformal
The collection of prizes a team or person has won, thought of as a measure of success.
Grammar: Usually 'the trophy cabinet' with a possessive: the club's trophy cabinet.
Patterns
- add to the trophy cabinet
- an empty trophy cabinet
The club's trophy cabinet has been bare for a decade.
A cup win would be a welcome addition to the trophy cabinet.
Few teams can match the trophy cabinet of the league's champions.
Word forms
| plural | trophy cabinets |
|---|
Common combinations
- add to the trophy cabinet
- The win adds another cup to the trophy cabinet.
- an empty trophy cabinet
- The manager promised to fill an empty trophy cabinet.
- glass trophy cabinet
- A glass trophy cabinet stood in the hall.
- fill the trophy cabinet
- The team has filled the trophy cabinet this decade.
- in the trophy cabinet
- The silver cup sits in the trophy cabinet.
Synonyms and how they differ
- trophy case
- Trophy case is the usual American phrase and is more often a wall display in a school hall.
- display cabinet
- Display cabinet is a general piece of furniture and does not suggest prizes.
- honors
- Honors is not a physical object, so it fits only the figurative sense of a record of success.
Word family
Practice
The football club's ____ has been empty since the 1990s.
Choose one answer.
A trophy cabinet holds prizes, so an empty one means no trophies have been won. The other cabinets and wardrobe store unrelated items.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “trophy cabinet”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.