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Cupboard vs Shelf - What's the difference?

cupboard | shelf |

As nouns the difference between cupboard and shelf

is that cupboard is an enclosed storage space with a door, usually having shelves, used to store crockery, food, etc while shelf is a flat, rigid, rectangular structure, fixed at right angles to a wall, and used to support, store or display objects.

As a verb cupboard

is to collect, as into a cupboard; to hoard.

cupboard

Noun

(en noun)
  • An enclosed storage space with a door, usually having shelves, used to store crockery, food, etc.
  • Put the cups in the cupboard .
  • * {{quote-book, year=1932, author=
  • , title=Friday's Business , chapter=20 citation , passage=Eurydice pointed to the cupboard , and sat down on the low divan with folded hands, and looked at the floor.}}
  • *
  • (obsolete) A table or sideboard on which to display or store cups, dishes etc.
  • Synonyms

    * closet (US) * press * wardrobe (British)

    Derived terms

    * airing cupboard * cupboardlike * cupboard love * cupboardy * fume cupboard * hot cupboard * skeleton in the cupboard

    See also

    * armoire * sideboard

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To collect, as into a cupboard; to hoard.
  • * 1608 , , I. i. 98:
  • Still cupboarding the viand, never bearing / Like labour with the rest,
    1000 English basic words

    shelf

    English

    (wikipedia shelf)

    Noun

    (shelves)
  • A flat, rigid, rectangular structure, fixed at right angles to a wall, and used to support, store or display objects.
  • * 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/nyregion/new-jersey-continues-to-cope-with-hurricane-sandy.html?hp]," New York Times (retrieved 31 October 2012):
  • Localities across New Jersey imposed curfews to prevent looting. In Monmouth, Ocean and other counties, people waited for hours for gasoline at the few stations that had electricity. Supermarket shelves were stripped bare.
  • The capacity of such an object; as, a shelf of videos.
  • A projecting ledge that resembles such an object.
  • A reef, shoal or sandbar.
  • Synonyms

    * (capacity) shelfful

    Derived terms

    * bookshelf * continental shelf * off the shelf * on the shelf * shelfful * shelvy * shelf life