cupping, vbl. n.
(ˈkʌpɪŋ)
[f. cup v. + -ing1.]
1. Surg. The operation of drawing blood by scarifying the skin and applying a ‘cup’ or cupping-glass the air in which is rarefied by heat or otherwise. (Also called distinctively wet cupping.) dry cupping: the application of a cupping-glass without scarification, as a counter-irritant.
| 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 40 Some do cures..with launsynge..boxynge, and cuppynge. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 311 Of such sort is dry Cupping. 1886 H. Van Laun Gil Blas II. vii. xvi. 430 This..he attributed..to the cuppings which he had had the honour of applying. |
2. The drinking of intoxicating liquor; a drinking-bout. arch. Cf. cup n. 10, v. 2.
| c 1625 [see cup v. 2 b]. 1649 Maid's Petition 3 To which stream of iniquity we may be a convenient stop, to dam up the[i]re overflowing cupping. 1868 Browning Ring & Bk. iv. 293 No more wilfulness and waste, Cuppings, carousings. |
3. a. The formation of a cup or concavity; a concavity thus formed. spec. in Metall., the process of forming a depression in sheet metal by forcing a plunger into it when it is laced over a die, used either to fabricate articles or as a test of the ductility of the metal; so cupping test.
| 1893 in N.E.D. 1921 Jrnl. Inst. Metals XXV. 441 A ductility testing machine is described in which the direct pressure necessary to distort the material is measured. The pressure to cause the cupping is weighed directly by means of a confined liquid and a gauge. 1927 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXV. 926 (title) A cupping test for determining qualities of thin metal sheets. 1964 Gregory & Simons Steel Working Processes v. 130 Cupping is applied to such parts as containers, brake drums, dishes, pans, trays, beakers, etc. |
b. Metall. Cuppiness; also, the flaws present in cuppy wire.
| 1925 A. T. Adam Wire-Drawing x. 199 Two examples of segregation, one in a thick mild steel bar and the other in a wire, both of which resulted in cupping, may be given. 1949 [see prec.]. 1952 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CLXX. 223/1 The rupturing of the segregate bands is analagous [sic] to the well-known ‘cupping’ in segregated cold-drawn wire. 1968 R. N. Parkins Mech. Treatm. Metals iv. 245 If too large a reduction is attempted, the wire may break or develop internal cracks associated with localized necking and referred to as cupping. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as (in sense 1) cupping-apparatus, cupping-horn, cupping-instrument, cupping-vessel; cupping-glass; (in sense 2) † cupping-house, a drinking-house, tavern.
| c 1616 T. Adams Wks. (1861) I. 277 A cupping-house, a vaulting-house, a gaming-house, share their means, lives, souls. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. iv. (1891) 72 They [the legs] are sucked up by two cupping vessels. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 659/1 Ancient cupping-horns, similar to those used through the East at the present time..Cupping-instruments are described by Hippocrates. |
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▸ orig. U.S. The action or an instance of judging the quality of coffee by tasting it; a coffee tasting. Freq. attrib.
| 1922 W. H. Ukers All about Coffee 158/1 It is possible to improve the cupping qualities of a coffee to a surprising degree. 1929 Havre (Montana) Daily News 30 Aug. 3 (caption) Individual cups of coffee are..submitted..for tasting at the ‘cupping table’. 1962 Chicago Defender 18 Apr. 9/5 Coffee sampling is crucial. This involves a sensitive procedure known as ‘cupping’. 1992 Vancouver Oct. 84/1 It seems more than a little twee to sit down at a formal coffee tasting—known as a ‘cupping’—and begin sniffing, shlurping and spitting a dozen religiously prepared cups of coffee as if they were so much fine Burgundy. 1995 Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News (Nexis) 3 Apr. d2 [The master roaster] will consult on bean selection, weekly cuppings..and the development of new blends. 2002 Observer Sept. (Observer Food Monthly) 20/4 [They] have joined a programme to allow farmers to taste their own coffee, learn cupping skills. |